EPILOGUE

            Looking at the past and the present, I had and continue to have an interesting life, stretching from the first third of the twentieth century to the first quarter of the 21st century. Technology and engineering made possible global-wide instantaneous communication and have reduced travel times to any point of the globe. Europe is, to a large extent, free of oppression and dictatorship. Old friendships can be renewed through e-mails and visits. People can research their own roots and visit the places where their ancestors lived.

The decade after retirement, after forty years of work, provided me with the opportunity to travel on land, in the air and on the water to many wonderful places in the world. A harmonious home life became the center of a relaxed lifestyle, a restful evening following a busy life. More than ever before, food from around the world was available at an affordable cost. It was said that only if you have experienced hunger, can you fully appreciate the satisfaction of eating well. I can confirm without hesitation that I have tried  the first and I have appreciated the second.

A complete change of country, social order, language and customs is never easy, even if it occurs at an age of just twenty-five years. You miss your friends, the familiar environment, a lot of small things that were near and dear to you. Even with the support of my father, it took a considerable amount of flexibilty and endurance for temporary difficulties, plus a capacity for postponement of the rewards, to surmount the multiplicity of obstacles. The end was good, in conformance with the saying that all is well if it ends well. I will always be grateful for my unique opportunity to start a new life in a new world.

We humans are endowed with a wonderful ability to remember the good things and forget the bad ones. When I think of my early life in the Banat, I remember a happy childhood in a quiet village, surrounded by loving parents and grandparents, by friends and neighbors, in an unpolluted environment, and with a wonderful climate. It was a cruel fate, the trauma of World War II, that destroyed that harmonious world. But I was young and I had a strong will to survive and to make a life for myself. 

I was able to complete high school and graduate from university only with the unconditional support of my maternal grandmother, Oma. Her life had never been easy, but her unique example of perseverance, love and dedication remained my guiding light throughout this life. It was not given to me to repay her limitless goodness, but I know that she was proud of every goal that we reached together, such as graduation  from high school and the very good results that I obtained at University while she was still alive.

I will also keep alive in my memory, for as long as I live, the image of my mother, taken from us by force, and buried in the harsh soil of the Ukraine before she reached the age of thirty years. In my memories, she will remain always young, beautiful and benevolent toward everyone in the world.

Nikolaus Tullius (from the book "Din Banat in Canada")