| Biographical Non-Fiction posted May 26, 2022 |
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Receiving my daughter's death call
R.I.P. Daughter
by Sandra Nelms-Ludwig
The phone rang incessantly for about an hour. I ignored it. Sleep was more important. However, the persistence of the caller kept intruding my slumber. I finally answered grumpily, "What do you want?"
With a heavy German accent, the caller answered, "I have been trying to reach you. Ginia is dead."
I screamed and hung up the phone. Perhaps if I didn't hear anymore, it wouldn't be true.
The phone rang again. Through guttural sobs, I asked, "How?"
Ginia's German father answered, "She fell off a balcony."
Our daughter was dead in Berlin. A dream ended and a nightmare remains.
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The phone rang incessantly for about an hour. I ignored it. Sleep was more important. However, the persistence of the caller kept intruding my slumber. I finally answered grumpily, "What do you want?"
With a heavy German accent, the caller answered, "I have been trying to reach you. Ginia is dead."
I screamed and hung up the phone. Perhaps if I didn't hear anymore, it wouldn't be true.
The phone rang again. Through guttural sobs, I asked, "How?"
Ginia's German father answered, "She fell off a balcony."
Our daughter was dead in Berlin. A dream ended and a nightmare remains.
With a heavy German accent, the caller answered, "I have been trying to reach you. Ginia is dead."
I screamed and hung up the phone. Perhaps if I didn't hear anymore, it wouldn't be true.
The phone rang again. Through guttural sobs, I asked, "How?"
Ginia's German father answered, "She fell off a balcony."
Our daughter was dead in Berlin. A dream ended and a nightmare remains.
 Recognized |
On May 26, 2006, I received a call from Gerald that Ginia had fell off a balcony. Our only daughter who had left Virginia at 19 to live near her father was dead at the age of 22. It took almost two months to get her remains back from Berlin. Her father had gotten her a German passport so she could easily find work there. Her American passport could not be located.
Ginia was granted dual citizenship until age 21. At 21, she was to contact an American consulate with her decision for which nation she selected. This was not done prior to her death. The American consulate assumed her decision had been made because the American passport was missing, and they would not allow her remains to be shipped to America. I wanted her remains. She was cremated and placed in an urn. Her father kept the urn until her American passport was finally located in London. The found passport was taken to the American consulate in Berlin, and her urn was shipped stateside.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Ginia was granted dual citizenship until age 21. At 21, she was to contact an American consulate with her decision for which nation she selected. This was not done prior to her death. The American consulate assumed her decision had been made because the American passport was missing, and they would not allow her remains to be shipped to America. I wanted her remains. She was cremated and placed in an urn. Her father kept the urn until her American passport was finally located in London. The found passport was taken to the American consulate in Berlin, and her urn was shipped stateside.
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© Copyright 2024. Sandra Nelms-Ludwig All rights reserved.
Sandra Nelms-Ludwig has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
