So, I must first say - public speaking is something I absolutely hate and fear drastically. And as luck should have it - it's "required" for my graduation which has already been an almost ten year plan let's be honest! :) So here I am, sweating bullets before speaking, hands shaking, heart racing, fidgeting like a fool... but here we go, I can overcome this... or at least do well enough to get a passing grade in this blasted class.
For those starving for something to read or to be entertained - here's my first speech of my 6 week struggle. At least this was a pleasant topic on "introductions" so I chose my amazing Grandmother Heidi who absolutely warms my heart to the core.
My speech:
"There
must be no majority decisions, but only responsible persons, and the word
'council' must be restored to its original meaning. Surely every man will have
advisers by his side, but the decision will be made by one man.", quoted
Hilter to his German Army during the war.
World War II wasn’t just a battle it was a way of life for many men and
women in the late 1930’s and early 19040’s.
Among those German citizens was my grandmother, Heidi Pfeiffer just 14
when the war officially started. I’m
going to talk to you about Heidi’s life and her road to 87 years old.
Heidi
was born April 3, 1925 in Neunkirchen Germany and the second oldest of five
children.
Before
the age of twenty Heidi had quite a job assisting the military. She was required
to shine lights on US Military planes as they flew over the city in the
night. She was told this was to distract
pilots and also give the German military visual targets to take down plans who
might bomb the city. It was then that
Heidi began to dream about a better life.
After
three long years on a waiting list Heidi was granted approval to head to
America by a sponsor named; Else McDowell, known to me as my Aunt through
marriage. After a two-week long boat
ride and severe sea sickness she had finally arrived. Like many immigrants her first sight was the
famous Statue of Liberty in New York City.
She still remembers the beauty in that moment – surely, here, in America
dreams will come true.
Shortly
after arriving to America Heidi move to Orlando, Florida to live with Else and
her husband. Heidi took a job as a nanny
for Mr. & Mrs. Fortune. This
Americanize family helped her perfect her English, taught her to drive a
vehicle and took her everywhere with them.
Little did Heidi know she was working for the family who later developed
a $39-million dollar resort known today as the Trade Winds Hotel and Beach
Resort right here in our home turf.
Down
the road Heidi was talked into going to a US Military ball. It was here that she met Glenn Gisin, a studly
Air Force pilot and conquincidently a potential target in Heidi’s light shining
days. Two people that were once at war
on opposing sides now found love in each other.
Heidi
Pfeiffer became Heidi P Gisin and they had three beautiful girls; Diana, Karen
& Vera. As a military wife Heidi
traveled all over the world and gave birth in Louisiana to Diana, then in
Superior delivering Karen and finally the last of three girls - Vera in Ankara,
Turkey.
Heidi
mastered sewing clothing for all the girls and was an amazing cook spoiling her
family with only the best German cuisine including my personal favorite
Rouladen and German style pastries.
Later,
Heidi was blessed with two grandchildren; myself and my brother; Derek, whom
she continues to spoil by putting us both through college and slipping us $20’s
at every visit.
As
the years passed both her daughter Karen and her husband Glenn have passed away
but she remains in the home they built to raise their family here in Orlando,
Florida. At the age of eighty-seven
she’s still going strong carrying the pride of achieving the American dream and
finding the ultimate loving husband. In
the last two years she’s welcomed a great grandson who brings such joy to her
world. She enjoys Thursdays and
Saturday’s at her local church, bingo on Wednesday’s twice a month and the
promise the live out her American dream surrounded by her loving family.
Heidi
laughs at us kids as we talk about our struggles in everyday life reminding us
that she knows the true meaning struggle in her early years in Germany. She was the fitting definition you hear from
time to time “one pair of shoes for a years, traveling up hill to and from school”. Heidi survived complete devastation
throughout World War II and came to America on a whim to achieve her American
Dream.
Hilter quote taken from:
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