Our UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) Class, 71-07G, graduated at Randolph Field, TX on 24 April 1971. One of our classmates, Chris Knudsen, was from Denmark. At the graduation reception Chris invited me to come and visit Denmark. I knew I would; I just didn’t know it would take 41 years!
Last week, 15 – 20 Jun 2012, I finally made it! And, I had a great time!
Chris and Rie, his current wife (of 42 years+), live on a beautiful farm in Southern Denmark. I used to think I worked hard around my place, until I saw his! Their farm is absolutely gorgeous. (Now I think I am a ‘slackard!’)
The house was built in 1834, and is absolutely charming. I had the whole upstairs to myself!
Chris and Rie took their vacation to show Denmark to me, and we had a ball! I saw Hans Christian Anderson’s house, the Mermaid in Copenhagen and a former German prisoner of war camp for Danish resistance fighters. Sobering. We also visited an old Danish castle. They really knew how to live!
This is Chris and I in 2010; at a ‘mini’ reunion in San Antonio.
…and now today,
…on their back porch.
It is at visits like this that I fully realize how fortunate I have been in life; to have friends like Chris and Rie. One could not ask for any better! I truly love these guys…
Rie and Chris, 20 Jun 2012
What a nice trip. You must be very organized, old pictures at your fingertips. Just wonder who’s taking care of all the no name bees? Enjoy your trip, remember life is short. Be well.
What fun. Did you travel around the rest of the Baltic?
Wow! Has it really been 41 years? Our youngest is stationed at Lakenheath, so we are making plans to go to England next summer.
Bob,
That does look like a great trip! Your friend looked like my German-Danish relatives. Probably lives not too far from them. I think I had emailed you that they live about 13 miles south of the Danish border, around Husum.
Come visit us when you can!
Carla