Post something nice about Russia.

[DFW]

89. By the time I met him, the War had been over for nearly 30 years

But as much as he tried to suppress it, I could tell that every time he tried to take a step with his prosthesis, the pain manifested itself. Only when riding a bicycle was he at ease. He was a nice guy, but I was told (later on, when I was accepted as a freak foreign member of the family) that as a teenager, he was the shining light of the family, always in a jovial good mood. He wasn't happy about being drafted at age 17. When he came back a cripple at age 19, he was a changed person (small wonder). the villagers told me that only when he met the girl that was to become my wife's mother did he light up again. He was absolutely taken with her, and apparently there was some jealousy when he was the one to finally marry her, handicap and all. She was "the catch" of the village, and the girl the local guys all wanted. Judging by their daughter, I can well imagine that her mom was quite the looker in her day as well.