Care Packages.....

I received an official CARE PACKAGE from the U.S.!!! (Thanks Evelyn!!)  I always loved getting Care Packages in College from my Grandmother.  She would stuff them full of  handmade goodies that she thought perhaps I had “a hankerin” for in my dorm room.  These goodies would be nicely packed in a shoebox, and then wrapped in a brown paper bag with my address carefully written on top.  I found it funny that these boxes got a little bigger once I moved up to NYC.  It was as if she thought they didn’t have any food in that big ole “northern” city.  If she were alive, I am sure she would be sending me monthly care packages full of 'who knows what'. 

So it was a smile I couldn't wipe off my face as I received a “real” care package here in Germany.  It didn't come in a shoebox, nor was it wrapped in a brown paper bag…it was even better.  It came in the form of my German friend, Heinz, holding a very pretty gift bag his wife, Evelyn, had packed for him to bring on his visit to Germany.  She knew that I had a “hankerin” for a few “American items” that I miss from home.  Evelyn and her family have been living in Tuscaloosa Alabama as Expats from Germany since the early 90s…so she understands better than most “hankerins” and what a transition it can be at times living in a different country.  What makes this care package extra special to me; During a time in her life when the world surrounding her went into chaos from a monster tornado, and she was  dealing with all of the devastation in Tuscaloosa, she took the time to make me a care package.  That my friends, is more than “a treat” I received while living abroad as an Expat…that is a CARE PACKAGE.  (One of my treats were a few bottles of “Franks”, which I quickly had to open and try on my favorite German snack)