The title might be a little confusing, so I figured I’d add an explanation. My dad started writing these stories for me when I had moved out to California after grad school. Dad describes it in the beginning of Life as a child in Langendorf:
“Your birthday is approaching quickly and I thought about what I might do to mark this special day. The problem is, as we both know, that you are now taking care of yourself quite nicely and that you hardly need any of those things which might be bought and sent to you. Then I remembered that you had suggested, not too long ago, that I prepare some record of the stories I had told you about my life as a child in Langendorf. Great idea!”
It was truly wonderful. Each year, around my birthday, an envelope would arrive with the year’s story. They were done on a typewriter, and later on the computer and printed out on a dot matrix printer. Some of the stories were ones I had requested, others were a total surprise. Many were stories I had heard him tell and over and over. It is so wonderful to have them in his own words to pass them down.