Life is a juggling game according to Brian Dyson, CEO of the Coca Cola Enterprises. It requires five balls. He calls them: work, family, health, friends, and spirit. In order to be successful in life, you must keep all five balls in the air. You will find that work is a rubber ball. If you accidentally drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls–family, health, friends, and spirit–are made of glass. If you drop one of them, it will instantly get scuffed, nicked, or even shattered. Become a skilled juggler, and you will lead a happy, balanced, and successful life.

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.