The Wall

Twenty five years ago today I flew to Berlin with some friends. We spent the day in the city, chipping away at the wall, shaking hands with the east German border guards and sitting in cafes listening to people worry about their jobs once the folk from the east flooded in.

The atmosphere was incredible and we knew we were in the middle of an historic moment. The hordes of fellow wall-woodpeckers may look now like opportunist tourists, and maybe we were. But at the time we felt like part of something more important. There was an almost tangible sense of two groups who should never have been separated, coming back into each other’s lives.

I kept a tiny piece of the wall as a reminder of that day and that time. It is a powerful reminder of what is possible.