Missing Heidelberg has become like breathing- I do it all the time, and without consciously thinking about it. There are constant reminders of my time in this haven that never fail to strike a chord in my heart. No matter where my life takes me, I will never forget this amazing place.
One may ask how a person could become so attached to one specific place. Well, words cannot describe it to you; it's something someone must experience in order to truly understand.
My father served in the United States Army for twenty six years, which also included my first eighteen years of life. We moved often enough to where inconsistency became the only constant in any of our lives. My family and I were stationed in places ranging from New York to Turkey, from Indiana to Texas, from South Carolina to Germany, and we rarely stayed at any location longer than two years. The only exception to this was Heidelberg, where we spent five (nonconsecutive, of course) years- these were no doubt the best years of my life.
I believe that everyone should travel to Europe at least once in their life; everyone deserves the chance to visit Paris, and to take a ride on the London Eye. However, in my opinion, the most delightful place in all of Europe is not one of the tourist hotspots, but moreover, a romantic city nestled in a valley in the Rein Neckar region of Germany. The natives are friendly and speak a good amount of English, the food is absolutely amazing, the weather is a wonderful breed of unpredictable, and it has to be one of the most gorgeous cities on the face of the planet (note the picture above).
But none of these reasons are why my heart constantly yearns to return to this lovely city that I am proud to call "home"; my experiences in Heidelberg could not have been made as memorable if it weren't for the wonderful people I shared this time with. The people I met in Heidelberg were, and still are, completely different from individuals I have met elsewhere; there is a unison among all Heidelbergers- we are all directly influenced by the chaos of the military. Unlike in many schools state-side, it is never awkward to be the "new kid" at Heidelberg High School. Truth be told, there was nothing sweeter than being the "new kid" in Heidelberg- everyone is always eager to make a new friend. While other high schools may already be divided into cliques by sophomore year, Heidelberg lacked this. While we had groups of friends that we hung out with on a regular basis, we still came together as a whole, and in a sense were all friends.
Now, I hope I have not made the mistake of leading you all to believe that only the high school was this way, but this is not so; everyone in Heidelberg had this warm, friendly attitude. I believe it was this that allowed all of us to look past the fact that we did not have a mall to go to, that our movie theater had at least a two week delay in release dates, that we only had one grocery store, and that we only got ten television channels (with public service announcements instead of commercials). We ignored the fact that the television shows we received were at the discretion of what AFN gave us, and that American Idol was shown on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so you were never able to vote for your favorite. Of course there were inconveniences that came from living in Heidelberg, but in my opinion they were all worth it because we had each other, and that made everything else relatively inconsequential.
I would give anything to be able to return to this lovely city for just one day with all my old friends, who are now all scattered around the world, and just enjoy the Hauptstrasse, and be able to climb the three hundred stairs to the castle one last time. I guess my memory will just have to suffice for now.
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