General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOne of the few perks of a job which takes me to a different country every day is.......
The good old stopped clock phenomenon, which means every now and then, I have to be in Frankfurt on a day when my younger daughter is also there, and can bring one of our granddaughters with her. It was only for about 45 minutes. Then our work schedules diverged again. But as long as we could spare the time...........

underpants
(189,794 posts)DFW
(57,669 posts)I wouldn't want to be one of the boys chasing after her. There will be some fierce competition.
ornotna
(11,245 posts)Such a little cutie.
...thanks for reminding us that there is still joy every day if we choose to see it.
DFW
(57,669 posts)That’s a very fancy cappuccino machine in the background.
DFW
(57,669 posts)Dr. Jekyll moved here after they ran him out of England, and he is rumored to store his new lab in that part of Frankfurt.
TxGuitar
(4,302 posts)
KS Toronado
(21,013 posts)but it could be lemonade. So grand daughter got her good looks from DFW.
DFW
(57,669 posts)
I was only called in as a stopgap provider of supplemental chromasomes.
By the way, it was a hot squeezed lemon with a LOT of honey!! That stuff is SOUR!
GeoWilliam750
(2,555 posts)You do very much appear to be the second luckiest man in the world
I am also convinced that the truest measure of success is happy grandchildren. It is only then that you know whether you have done well the only really important job in your life.
DFW
(57,669 posts)But I'd be an idiot if I started complaining. There is a lot of misery out there that passes us by.
CaliforniaPeggy
(153,379 posts)I'm glad you had a moment of respite to see your daughter and granddaughter!
DFW
(57,669 posts)This week's schedule allowed me to take this brief time out, so I did.
Yesterday, I was in Switzerland--Geneva and Zürich, tomorrow in Paris, the day after in Brussels, Friday in the Netherlands, and then Monday in Spain. There is no rest for the weary, so the weary must steal it where and when we can.
Nothing like the trek we have planned for a week from Friday (look up the distance from Frankfurt am Main to Waikoloa), but at least then we'll all be together.
TNNurse
(7,297 posts)Ptah
(33,687 posts)
Response to Ptah (Reply #8)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
DFW
(57,669 posts)I have to work at being a master thief in that regard. I envy those that do not.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Ours are sadly all too big to run and jump on us when we arrive. Actually, it'd put us in the hospital now, but I really miss when they were that size.
Tree Lady
(12,340 posts)She really loves her grandpa.
DFW
(57,669 posts)There's no accounting for taste..........
Response to DFW (Original post)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
DFW
(57,669 posts)You don't want to be on the same continent with her.
Response to DFW (Reply #17)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
DFW
(57,669 posts)Ptah gets credit for the other one.
Lonestarblue
(12,521 posts)DFW
(57,669 posts)On April 10th, my wife and I celebrate our 40th anniversary. We thought we'd try to get the family together for the occasion. My younger daughter--the one who took this picture--thought she'd pick out a place. We said, sure, go ahead. So, she did--her old high school hangout, which happens to be to Kona side of the Big Island of Hawa'i. This is not a budget undertaking, as you might imagine, so I started to look for affordable flights. She said, well, it would be nicer if my wife and I flew the whole way with them from Frankfurt instead of flying from Düsseldorf and Paris, as we usually do. I explained to her that what she was proposing for us was €3000 more expensive. But she doesn't take "no" for an answer, and just went ahead and bought us the tickets (she makes many multiples of what I do), and called it an anniversary present.
When she was 2 years old, a neighbor once called her "Madame 10,000 volts." She hasn't changed much.
SleeplessinSoCal
(10,020 posts)I imagine this whole DST change over means nothing to you. You change time zones more than a new mom changes diapers.
Very exciting anniversary for the whole family. I recall being flown from London back to Los Angeles for my grandparents 40th anniversary when i was studying there for 3 years. So i can relate in some way.
Enjoy your family as you travel across the world!
DFW
(57,669 posts)If I recall correctly, Hawai'i doesn't go on DST, but when you're traveling halfway across the world in one day, I don't think it much matters if we cross eleven time zones or twelve. We'll be wrecks when we get there, no matter WHAT time it is!
Evolve Dammit
(20,452 posts)Yorkie Mom
(16,577 posts)
DFW
(57,669 posts)Happy is the word for it, alright!
She is in that intermediate phase where she understands what I say to her in English, but she still answers in German, her preferred language. Our daughters didn't start responding in English until they were 5 or so.
lpbk2713
(43,204 posts)Lucky you.
DFW
(57,669 posts)So she had quite a head start:
Lucky her!
secondwind
(16,903 posts)Lemon Lyman
(1,482 posts)Very cool. I remember you posting pics of your family (2 daughters?), and that your whole family were lookers!
What's the white box'y thing by the window? An air purifier?
DFW
(57,669 posts)These days, for all I know, it's a polonium remover!
With Putin still skulking about, that's something that should be in every home in Europe!
secondwind
(16,903 posts)I miss those days........
DFW
(57,669 posts)calimary
(85,736 posts)pandr32
(12,810 posts)I envy you. My kids have now all grown and none seem to want their own families.
Traveling so much must be challenging during this pandemic. You look well, and so does that beautiful girl!
Also, I hope your upcoming anniversary is a lot of fun here on the Big Island of Hawaii.
DFW
(57,669 posts)Our younger daughter went to school there--it was up in Waimea--for two years, so as you can imagine, it's not exactly unknown territory for us. When we were together in Frankfurt today, my daughter and I were discussing which of her classmates we were going to see, how to drive to where we are staying (up past Hapuna, just before Kawai'i Hae), down to her former roomie's house in South Kona, etc etc. Nineteen years of absence for me (nine for her), and here we were yakking about it again, as if we passed through there every second weekend. What will really be weird for me will be to see all these schoolmates of hers that I knew, all 18 year old kids at the time, now all approaching 40.
This was NOT your typical high school graduation!
pandr32
(12,810 posts)I love seeing my kids' former classmates. Well maybe except for one. He found the wrong path.
Wishing you much Aloha
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)And vice versa, I'm sure.
ProfessorGAC
(72,201 posts)And, your granddaughter.
80-90% of my trips were anything but pleasure.
If it was me coming (as opposed to one of my staff) it meant the problem was BIG!
I was as welcome a sight as Darth Vader.
DFW
(57,669 posts)Although after weeks of our three grandchildren, the State of Hawai'i may declare the date of our departure a State Holiday from here on in. If the Mayors of Kona and Waikoloa come to see us off, and start repeating "mahalo" to the pilot of the plane taking us away, we'll know for sure.
ProfessorGAC
(72,201 posts)Have a good time in Hawaii!
róisín_dubh
(11,975 posts)I miss my grandpa every day. What I wouldn't give to sit and have a coffee with him (though he'd lecture me about having not visited Italy yet...)
DFW
(57,669 posts)He lived to be 102, and has his wits about him to the end. At age 99, he sent out a Christmas card with a photo of himself, looking very much his age, with the caption: "Compliments of the Seasoned." He wouldn't lecture me about anything other than how beautiful he thought his great-grandkids were, and he never got an argument from us of that (or any other) subject.
niyad
(123,088 posts)It truly gladdens the spirits.
Safe travels to you all.
DFW
(57,669 posts)We have many miles to go before we sleep, that's for sure.
Harker
(15,981 posts)Your priorities are impeccable.
DFW
(57,669 posts)It just ain't worth it if all you see is a blur of the world flying by.
If there's any blurring in my life, it's strictly on my terms.
alwaysinasnit
(5,375 posts)
AnotherMother4Peace
(4,705 posts)Thank you for sharing and giving me a smile.
trof
(54,273 posts)And I mean that as a compliment.
What's you grandpa name?
I'm 'Baba'.
DFW
(57,669 posts)Last edited Wed Mar 30, 2022, 12:36 PM - Edit history (1)

But time moved on, and central casting forgot to call me!
PS--I'm "Opa" by the way.
11 Bravo
(24,095 posts)What a little doll. You're indeed a lucky man, DFW.
Liberal In Texas
(15,072 posts)It's nice that you are able to do this. Worth more than all the gold in the world.
DFW
(57,669 posts)Sogo
(6,173 posts)
stollen
(769 posts)Sind Ihre Enkel mehrsprachig? Fließendes Deutsch zum Beispiel?
DFW
(57,669 posts)Der Kleine in New York bekommt Russisch dazu.
Demovictory9
(35,144 posts)
Meowmee
(8,339 posts)kentuck
(113,417 posts)It is admirable what you are doing, DFW.
DFW
(57,669 posts)Some would no doubt prefer the view that a well-traveled man is a pompous know-it all
I look at my family, consider the math genius, the hotshot legal mind, the PhD in Engineering, the tireless social worker, the adventurer who is sent on development aid trips to Muslim areas of sub-Saharan Africa, none of whom are me, and say, damn, I'm pretty far down the totem pole. But you know what? There's no requirement that everyone has to be top dog, and I can live with that just fine.