Birgit

Birgit would have been 69 yesterday. Sadly she died on Friday 27th August 2004 – 17 years ago – and how

she is missed. She was a remarkable women who liked to be in the company of other people, be it in a party or just for a chat and a drink. I first met her when I came to Berlin and went looking for work. Birgit was the head of a language school teaching English to ex-DDR citizens and she gave me a job. I have happy memories of working in her school and with the students. Later we worked together in another private school in the centre of Berlin. She also moved into a nice flat with a garden in my district so we saw each other more socially then.

Her sister Heike contacted me about meeting and going to the grave together. We did just that. We bought some flowers on the way and I had already bought two small bottles of sekt. On arrival we greeted her as I sang ‘Happy Birthday to you’ and we poured a little sekt onto the top of the grave. We later sat nearby and sipped the rest of the sekt as we talked and remembered happy times with Birgit. Later Heike and I went to a restaurant near my place for lunch and more talking about a person who is sadly missed.