ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christa was born in Lodz, Poland, during World War II. In 1945, at the age of four, she, along with her mother and sister, fled before the Russian communist invasion of Poland. In 1953 the family immigrated to Cranbrook, B.C., where Christa met and married her husband. They raised six children, four of whom were adopted. The couple has backpacked all over the world; Christa has written many stories about their travels, some of which have been published in local newspapers.
go dancing with Irene and me later. He smiled a somewhat slanted smile and my heart skipped a beat or two. I ran inside and called Irene to ask if she would graciously allow me to bring this stranger to the Bluebird.
Promptly at 8 p.m. she appeared in her little green Mini and picked us up. The Bluebird was a circular log structure with a high centre criss-crossed by huge natural coloured logs. The large dance floor was surrounded by a fence with several openings onto a 12-foot wide area around the perimeter. This area was full of benches placed intermittently. The whole building seemed to be divided somewhere down the middle. One side was filled with giggling young girls and women, while the other held large groups of men. A band was seated somewhere between these two halves. Jochen watched in great fascination as one man after another stomped across to where the women were sitting, taking the lady of his choice by the hand and then waltzing with her onto the dance floor.
The whole thing was a bit too reminiscent of history book pictures, showing cavemen dragging their women into caves. Jochen impressed me greatly by solemnly bowing his head in my direction, while politely asking me if he may have this dance. I happily stepped into his arms while he expertly led me onto the dance floor. I became the centre of his attention for the rest of the evening as he whirled me around the floor, dance after dance. We spent much time gazing into each other’s eyes as the time flew by.
Thus began a love a air that has lasted a lifetime.