When my middle daughter Linda got married her Army husband was sent to Berlin, Germany. She stayed with us to finish her high school and graduate. Then when he found on-base housing she joined her husband. I'll never forget the day she left. Just like a Mama bird my nest was emptier now, but I made a lot more fuss than Mama bird does when her little ones fly off. I cried and moped for two days.

My youngest daughter Lois graduated from high school a couple of years later and we gave her a trip to Germany to see her sister, brother-in-law and nephew as a graduation gift. They had a 17-month-old baby now and we were anxious to meet the little boy.

In the summer of 1973 we joined a German club and flew to Europe in a plane that had seats so narrow there was little room for legs. It wasn't a problem for me, since I'm short, but it caused my six-foot husband to do some complaining. It was a short night; on one side of the plane it was pitch dark, on the other side the sun was rising. When we got to Amsterdam it was 4:55 in the morning but 9:00 p.m. Denver time. It seemed to take forever for us to be processed through the airport as we anxiously waited to see our kids and little grandson.

They had rented a van and a room in Leiden, Holland. Leiden was a wonderful old Dutch town. As a schoolgirl I had seen pictures of Holland, with huge windmills and tulips. There were no tulips in bloom, but the town had many large windmills and multicolored flower filled carts in front of picturesque shops. The narrow brick streets were filled with bicycles and waterways flowed in front of tall houses.

It was something of a culture shock to walk into a small shop and not be able to understand a word anyone was saying.

Holland is filled with canals and one of the first things we did was take a trip on the "dubbeldek salonship" Jolanda. The three-hour trip traveled over the canals of Leyden. Upon hearing that there were Americans on board, the Captain of the ship came to talk to us.

The people of Holland are resourceful and they have fought hard to keep the waters under control. Much of the land is lower than the sea so the Dutch people built dikes and dams to hold back the water. They dug ditches and canals and built windmills to pump water into them so they could have enough land where they could build homes and towns. As we drifted down the canals we saw numerous giant windmills and houseboats as large as our big mobile homes.

At the end of the expedition they played "America the Beautiful" and the captain made us feel like celebrities when he over the loudspeaker wished the Americans a good trip.

We ate our supper in an outdoor restaurant. In 1973 we had few outdoor restaurants in the area and it was a wonderful treat. Our meal consisted of meat, French fries (Pome Fritz) and green beans. We soon discovered that each meal in Germany contained Pome Fritz.

From Leiden we went to Amsterdam. More canals ran past tall, skinny houses. Our destination was the house where during World War II Anne Frank and her family hid for such a long time. I had read the Diary of Anne Frank and when we visited that famed house we saw the place of refuge where the young Dutch girl and her parents hid.

The tall, narrow house was built in 1635 beside a canal so that goods could be brought to the doorstep. It consisted of a front house and a backhouse or annex.

On May 10 of 1940 the Nederlands were attacked by the German troops. Jewish citizens were discriminated against, persecuted and deported to be exterminated. The Frank family moved into hiding when their oldest daughter Margot in 1942 received deportation orders for Germany. The Van Daan family and Dentist Drussel, threatened with deportation, were also taken into shelter.

The bookcase that once stood in front of the staircase that led to the hiding place, sat in one corner. The annex was left unchanged over the years and we climbed a steep staircase to the third floor. There we saw the dining room, living room and kitchen where the three families were imprisoned for two years. The stove that was used for cooking and burning is still there.

In the evenings the windows were blacked out. Those boards are still there.

Another steep staircase leads to the loft where provisions, such as potatoes were stored and where Anne Frank spent much of her time. Visitors cannot go into the loft.

On August 4, 1944 the hiding place was found by the Gestapo and the exiles were arrested and deported. Furniture and clothing was seized, but books and papers were left scattered on the floor. Miep and Elly, who were loyal friends, cleaned up and found Anne Frank's diary.

Anne Frank died in a German concentration camp when she was 16 years old. Mr. Frank was the only family survivor and when he returned to Amsterdam after the war he was handed the diary. The diary was published in 1947.

As I stood in those small quarters I tried to imagine what it felt like to be a young girl living her life in such terrible circumstances. Sometimes I take my freedom for granted, but on this day I thanked God that I was born in America, the land of the free. May it always stay free.