There I was, stuck in Ramstein, Germany.

I was the base pediatrician at RAF Upper Heyford, England from 1974 to 1977. I was on the program to speak at a medical convention in Wiesbaden, Germany on “The Use and Misuse of Antibiotics”, and departed Lakenheath Air Base on the “European Eagle”. I had my papers in hand that indicated that we would land in Ramstein and then fly on up to Rhine Main near Wiesbaden. I had a reservation at the von Steuben Hotel at the final destination.

Well, we landed at Ramstein and everyone got off of the plane and it wasn’t going any further! I stood there perplexed as two individuals appointed by the Lord prepared to rescue me. First, a Lt. Colonel came over to me and asked if I needed any help. I told him my plight, and he drove me to the bahnhof (train station) and bought me a ticket to Wiesbaden!

On the train I sat by the daughter of a general, and she was on the way to Wiesbaden to see her boyfriend. She said to me “you know we have to change trains half way there”. No, I didn’t know that! When the time came we had two minutes to get on the other train, and when it pulled into Wiesbaden it stopped right across the street from the von Steuben Hotel! Thank you, Jesus!

EPISODE 15

There I was, late at night, out of gas, and the filling station was closed!

Valo and I were driving southwesterly down toward Cornwall for a vacation. The boys were in their car seats in the back of our Midnight Blue Morris 1300. It was late, around 10 pm as I recall, and we were getting quite low on petrol (gas) – so much for great planning.

I was desperately searching for a filling station, and finally saw what appeared to be one, only to find that all of the lights were off and it was closed. Well, I pulled up next to one of the pumps and to my amazement found that the pumps were coin-operated! I pulled out some 50p (pence) coins and we took on enough fuel to get us to our hotel. That is the only time in my life that I ever have seen coin-operated pumps. Do you agree with me that the Lord keeps showering me with his favor?

EPISODE 16

There I was in the Kentucky countryside and being told of a dog breed that nobody has ever heard of!

My grandmother Mary grew up near Greensburg, Kentucky on a dairy/tobacco farm. They owned a slave (!) and when emancipation came he didn’t want to leave, so he was retained as a hired hand. Valo and I made a trip to the old home place, the two-story brick house that Grandmother lived in. It had been deserted for years, and an old gentleman named Bobby was the caretaker of the property.

Relatives had told Bobby that we would be visiting that day, and sure enough, after we had been there a while here came old Bobby in his pickup truck with a rifle in the rear window. I noticed a rather large dog across the road in a field, and Bobby announced that it belonged to him. It came bounding across the road and sat down close to us. I remarked to Bobby that it was a fine-looking dog, and he said, “Yes, it’s a Pekingese”.

I smiled and said, “They’re usually pretty small, aren’t they?” He replied, “He’s a Great Pekingese”. I’m sure he meant “Great Pyrenees”!