Stepping out of the house to walk the dogs last week, I saw the first snowdrops blooming.

Whenever I see them, I always think of my German father-in-law. My mother-in-law once said that the snowdrops always bloom on his birthday. And it is true. His birthday fell during the first week of February.

My SH says he was a strict German dad when his children were growing up; however, by the time I met him, he had mellowed. He always treated me with respectful chivalry. SH said it was because he respected my knowledge and studies as a medievalist. He knew multiple languages, including Greek, and, despite decades living in the US, he kept his German accent.

I remember he almost always had a book nearby. He read omnivorously. He loved Ian Fleming’s 007 books; they helped him improve his English when he and his wife first came to the States. He also read books about history, literature, and science. He was truly a great humanist and accorded everyone respect.

My mother-in-law once told me a story about how they had gone to a fancy restaurant for dinner in the south in the 1960s. They were seated at a table and started ordering food. When their colleague finally arrived, my father-in-law was told that the colleague would have to leave the restaurant because the colleague was an African-American. My father-in-law and mother-in-law stood up and left with their colleague. They just left with the first-course growing cold on the table.

He died almost 15 years ago on Friday, August 27, 2004.