NIEDER-RAMSTADT – This is how Waltraud and Karl Naar did not imagine their 53rd wedding anniversary: Instead of having a nice meal together as usual or enjoying coffee and cake in their house in Nieder-Beerbach, they are not even allowed to go to their honor day Close arms. Because Waltraud Naar lives in a nursing home of the Nieder-Ramstadter Diakonie and because of the risk of infection with the coronavirus, husband Karl is not allowed to visit her there.
“It’s bad. We wouldn’t have dreamed of something like that a few weeks ago,” says Karl Naar. One could almost think of it as an April Fool’s joke, but unfortunately it is a reality, says the 79-year-old Nieder-Beerbacher. Because he and his wife have been going through thick and thin together for 55 years, they thought of something despite the obstacles so that they could still celebrate a bit with each other.
A rendezvous at the garden fence
Around 10.30 a.m. both agreed to meet for their most unusual rendezvous, namely at the fence of the deacon site. Karl Naar stood there to wave to his wife while she was standing a few meters further on the other side in the garden. Former police officer Karl Naar had also brought a present to his loved ones and hung them on the fence. “We had a little talk. But it was quite cold,” says Karl Naar. Nevertheless, he put on his good sweater and put on a brisk scarf. “It goes without saying that I dress up something nice for my wife on my wedding day,” he says. Of course he would have preferred to have hugged his Waltraud. “But the situation is just the way it is. And we are both set up to deal with special circumstances.”
Without the Corona crisis, the couple would probably have gone to their favorite restaurant in Steigerts. “We actually always did that on our wedding day. Or we went to Darmstadt to eat there.” They even celebrated the golden wedding three years ago with 60 guests.
“Love at first sight”
Karl Naar says he is still as in love as on the first day. The “Rhoner”, as the pensioner who grew up in Tann, calls himself, got to know his wife 55 years ago in Nieder-Beerbach at a party in the Simmermacher restaurant. He no longer knew whether it was a notch or Mardi Gras. But be sure: “It was love at first sight.” A year later they got engaged, and the following year they were married by the then-mayor Ludwig Bauer in Nieder-Beerbach.
Since then they have always been there for one another, and have also pursued their common hobby of dance sport at the SKG. Since her stroke in 2018, Waltraud Naar has been cared for in the nursing home. That’s why she wasn’t there when Karl Naar was honored for 60 years in the police union a few weeks ago. In the meantime, his wife has recovered so well that she is doing minor household chores again. Karl Naar hopes that they can go back to their favorite restaurant on their next wedding day and that he can be close to her again soon. Until then, it will have to stay at the rendezvous on the garden fence. For example, on April 7th, when Waltraud Naar celebrates her 80th birthday.
