15 ladies attended our first meeting after the Easter break. This year our annual book and DVD sale marked the end of our Easter break so we all had a lot to talk about. It had been 5 weeks since our last meeting, the OUT meeting to the Wasserturm Hotel. Our charity this year, Höviland, will receive the proceeds from our sale, plus of course what we collected at the Advent tea. According to our treasurer, Liesel, we have reached approximately € 500 through various collections since the AGM in Sept. Books that were left over at the end of the afternoon were then placed in the Bücherturm of the Alte Feuerwache.  In addition to browsing thru the books and just relaxing and chatting, we had a special treat. Under the motto “We all have a story” , we continued the tradition of members introducing themselves. This time it was one of our newer members, Rosmarie. What an interesting life! from the idyllic Ahr valley to the adventures of Brazil. After becoming a nurse here in Germany, she used her skills in several projects in Brazil, while also learning Portugiese. She has kept the language and some contacts in Brazil, but returned to Germany to become a teacher at a nursing school here in Cologne. The list of accomplishments is too extensive to include here, but on a final note, Rosmarie does volunteer work, presently helping families coping with dementia. By spending time with a patient, she gives members of a family ‘time off’. At this point we  learned that another member of our club, Barbara R. also does similar volunteer work.

 Thus, our charity sale opened up a new perspective. There is so much out there in the scope of volunteering.I’m sure other members can add to this. Remember, each of us has a story. We’re waiting to hear the next one.