Ilona Cole, Guest Author, Story 157

One Good Thing Leads to Another

After arriving in the United States in 1954 and getting acquainted with some of my Hal’s friends, like Fred and Marylou, two dear friends since high school, I was pleasantly surprised to get to meet some more. Fred was one of my Hal’s best friends and buddy’s and he told Hal about his friend Julius Boehm, an Austrian by birth, an officer in the Austrian cavalry. He wanted to meet me, the General’s daughter, after Fred told him about my father being an officer in the German cavalry during World War 1. Julius was very much intrigued with my father, in fact with my family, being that Julius came from the same background as my father, only Austria and my father came from Germany. Marylou and Fred planned a gathering in their home of all their friends and invited Hal and me to be the “guests of honor.” During this festive and pleasant evening, I not only met Julius, but also his companion Margaret Von Wrangel. She was a lovely lady, an artist. She was a painter, mostly murals and frescos.

Julius spent a lot of time with me, having many questions about where my father was fighting during WWI. I also told Julius that my papa was a prisoner of war by the British and spent two years after the war on the island Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka. Julius had a chocolate shop in north Seattle, close to Fred’s and Hal’s neighborhood. His plan was to build a complex of buildings on the property he had purchased by the town of Issaquah on the East side, right of the highway going to North Bend and the ski area at Snoqualmie Pass in the beautiful Cascades. A beautiful, striking Chalet with ground floor chocolate shop and workroom to make all chocolates and above on the second floor his living quarters. Most items that beautified this place Julius had ordered from Austria to keep things authentic and true. He had hand-painted tiles shipped, enough to build an “Kachelofen” a Tile warming stove or heater that filled a large corner in the living room in circumference and from floor to ceiling. This big, awesome heater would keep the tiles warm and heat up all the space on the 2^nd floor for days.

I had a call from Julius, when the chalet was finished and he wanted to open his chocolate shop, to ask me if I could help him in the shop until he could find the proper employees. I talked it over with my Hal and we decided that I could do this for our new dear friend. While I sold chocolate in the shop, Margaret Von Wrangel was busily working in the workroom, melting chocolate and dipping individual chocolates into the milk- and dark-chocolate ganache. Every morning when I arrived Julius was in his kitchen to melt big chunks of chocolate and poured hot milk over it to make hot chocolate, like the famous “Angelina’s” hot chocolate in Paris. Large cups and spoons. Margaret, Julius and I would sit by the big heating oven and had a lively conversation going until the opening of the shop. Julius always managed to bring the conversation to my father, or the Prussian race. So handsome both women and men, the military men. The beautiful women with chiseled features, high cheekbones, classic beauties. With this statement Julius was looking right at me.  If Margaret would not have been there, I would have been embarrassed, but we could change this subject quickly.

Julius, for his age, still was very active. He still gave skiing lessons on Snoqualmie Pass, swimming lessons to children at the Y and piano lessons to private students. Like my Hal would say: “and an eye for beautiful women.” He also was well known for his charity work and still climbed mountains and skied while in his nineties. A very interesting gentleman, well educated, charming and well-travelled and most of all a dear friend to Marylou and Fred and now to Hal and me.

After all the buildings by Issaquah were completed, including a beautiful precious little chapel, Margaret started her work on the outside of the buildings beautiful, life size murals of Austrian scenes. On the inside the walls displayed great and awe-inspiring frescos, absolutely beautiful!

These warm and wonderful memories of our beginning of a great marriage, sixty- four years, and the start of forming lasting friendships is the foundation that my memories were built and formed and will always occupy a special place in my heart and mind, never to be forgotten.

Thank you, my beloved Hal, dearest Marylou and Fred, Julius and Margaret.