March, 2005 - Nr. 3
"Let’s Stay Together"
Hello Echo Germanica readers! Do you know where we were last
Sunday night? You might have heard us! My big family, "the Forget-me-nots",
were invited to be guests on CHFI 98.1 FM on the station’s evening program
"Marty and Avrum with Love"!
On Feb 27th at 9:30 p.m., we arrived at the nearly deserted Rogers building and 23 of us, plus a good friend, filed in out of the cold night. We were led up to the CHFI area where, in the dark studio, Marty and Avrum were in the middle of hosting their program on families that "live together, work together and stay together". It’s obvious why Marty and Avrum, long-time friends of ours, would have thought of our family as a fitting addition to their show!
![The Szauter/Forget-me-nots family at CHFI's "Marty and Avrum with Love" [photo: Szauter Family]](503c-Rachel_CHFI.jpg)
We’ve got to be one of the most unusual families in the world! ---living all together because we chose to. We were waiting outside the studio watching the Academy Awards on a TV (secretly wondering if anyone would be listening to the radio on the night of THE Oscars) when I was swiftly whisked into the studio. I sat nervously on the bouncy, spongy chair with a high-tech mic at my mouth hoping that my words make some sense when I speak on the radio! Thus, the interview began. My cousin Danny, my Aunt Ingrid and I discussed the benefits of living together, serving each other and persevering through difficulties instead of running away from them. During a commercial break, the rest of our bunch slipped into the dimly-lit studio. We have a way of "acting small" in spite of our being such a large group. At the same time Marty described to our Toronto listeners how the room was full of energy and love. Avrum commented on the fact that we all looked taken care of and that our faces were glowing. It was hard for me to explain why, on the air!! The best part for me was when my cousin Rubin, Ingrid Szauter’s youngest son, called in to tell Toronto how remarkable we are and that he is proud of us! He doesn’t live with us because of what he described as his being very independent ever since he was young. I was moved that Rubin would call in to tell us all how much we meant to him. Six other members of my family shared details and little stories about our life-style before the show was concluded with our theme song. We sang, "Bleib Ma Beinand", a beautiful slow yodeler which means, "Let’s Stay Together".
It seemed that Avrum was hoping to unearth a little morsel of dissention within our family but we just couldn’t come up with something bad to say about living together! The reason is that we know the positive out-weighs any unpleasant aspects that come with 24 different personalities in one home. We do have our troubles getting along, which is inevitable among all humans, but those are just shallow issues. Deep inside, we know who we can count on if we need someone. In my big family, working through differences not only builds character but also brings about a special end result: a group of irreplaceable friends who share a rare and strong bond of harmony, trust, faithfulness and love---I think that’s worth any struggle.
Rachel
A. I. Seilern
Comments to: rachel@echoworld.com
