Carmen

 From Left to Right, Sonja, Carmen, Josefa, in 1964

When my oldest sister was a teenager, she spent weekends working with our father and weekdays working for a small publishing company.

After a few years of this, and no boyfriend in sight, Carmen decided to take matters into her own hands. She put a personal ad in the monthly newspaper dedicated to the traveling entertainers of Germany, called The Artist's World. 

She got one response and replied in turn.

One Saturday afternoon, I heard a knock at the door. Carmen, all dressed up in her nice dress, make-up in place, ran to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

She led a cute young man into the living room. His black hair was slicked back and brown eyes sparkled in his animated, handsome face. Carmen introduced him as Manfred to Mutti, Josefa and me. 

Manfred was outspoken and charming in contrast to my rather quiet sister. After he'd talked to Mutti, Carmen invited him into her room and they visited for a while.

Before he left again, he asked Carmen for a date for the next week. Carmen accepted.

He left, and Carmen returned to the living room with a big smile on her face. She turned to Mutti and said, "He is the one for me. I'm going to marry him."

And she did. Carmen and Manfred have been married now for over 45 years. They ran their carnival attractions until they retired, and Manfred still goes out and works for other carnies for two or three weekends each month, even though he is now close to seventy.

As a young man, Manfred inherited a house from his aunts, and there he and Carmen raised three children. None of their children stayed in the carnival business, but they all did well in life. Carmen has two grandchildren. She still lives in the same house, and sometimes accompanies Manfred on his weekend travels.

 Carmen today at 66