Nostalgia. It’s all I feel right now. Am I glad I’m here? Of course. Aside from the slight feeling of melancholy, I’m quite relieved. Coming here one last time can allow me to set my mind to ease. Give myself that final piece of joy I’ve been needing. It wouldn’t have felt right if I travelled down to Molching with Samuel, my husband. Of course I would love having him visit with me, but just not yet. A walk alone through Himmel street with no worries or scares is what I’ve needed ever since I left. Maybe it was guilt. Guilt, that I was able to leave while others stay where the horrors never leave their minds. Maybe I was uneasy. Anxious to the fact that I may regret not walking through the open door while I had the chance. If I’m being honest, I’m not so sure myself. But on October 12, 1992, I wanted, or more like needed, to visit Germany. I wasn’t ever ready to step back into Deutschland, I had no intention of ever coming back the second I stepped on the grounds of Sydney, Australia. Turning the street I see, starting from the end to the start avoiding 33 Himmel Street in specific. A tiny antique shop is hanging on a thread. I couldn’t help but just stare and smile to myself. “Hallo Frau Diller” I said to myself. Passing by trash bins, I instantly stood in between two and stood there for a good 3 minutes. Laughing at all of the foolish cherished memories that filled my head. Snapping back into reality, I notice a small child, no older than 7 laying a game with skipping stones. Alone but content, in
her own little world. I could see the boxes thought the window of the house she was in front of, and I instantly remembered of the 15 minutes I took to enter my then dein neues Heim. I then knew she wasn’t willingly alone, but simply alone. Just how 9 year old Liesel Meminger was the first few months of her arrival. Travelling down the street, turning to look straight at the Steiner house, and tilting her head looking at 33 Himmel ...