A Determined Journey
Introduction
  • Introduction & Index
  • Author's Profile
  • The War Child
  • The Post War Child
  • The Family
  • Adolescence
  • The Teen Years
  • Adulthood - Karin
  • The United States
  • The Asian Years
  • The Philippines - Marlene
  • Brazil - The Final Step
  • The American Family
  • A Personal Crisis
  • Patricia
  • The Latin American Years
  • Berlin, Germany - November 2011
  • The Fall of the Wall - November 9, 1989
  • Berlin and Munich November 2012
  • Berlin 2016
  • Munich, Tegernsee and Salzberg 2016
  • The Winds of Change
  • The Later Years
  • Memory Road
  • Flashback - The Year 1963
  • Epilogue
  • Rolfs Blog
  • The Scrap Books

Chapter XXI
Final Thoughts


No one and nothing can ever change the past. If our lives follow a pre-determined course or if the path we are taking is of our own making we will never know. I pity the one who has not been living life to the fullest. I also pity the ones who destroy their lifes, for they will never know what they are missing.

I would not want to change one little thing. The glorious range of emotions from fear and terror to unsurpassed passion and love, from a sheltered and secure life to dispair and poverty, to the years of discovery, both of the world and myself, I have lived a rich life. The choice has always been mine. Right or wrong I have no one to blame for anything I have done, except myself. Of this I am immensely proud.

The memories, both haunting and beautiful, that have been part of my life will go with me. A very limited snapshot of them is now documented for anyone to share.  

Having been born into an incomprehensible world at total war, I have always fought for my independence. I never have nor ever will tolerate interference with what I am doing at any time. I will continue to follow that path for as long as I live.