How a Walk on a Sunny Day in Munich Helped Me Find My Father

Karen Espig
Expat Notebooks
Published in
5 min readJan 1, 2023

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Sometimes healing takes a really long, winding path

There are many elements to the back-story that brought me to Munich, but suffice it to say, one never knows what-leads-to-what in the universe. Chance encounters and an open heart and mind, in my experience, allow for interesting solutions and opportunities.

My father, who was German, died when I was 19 years; I am now older than he was when he died, which is surreal. He lived all of his adult life in Canada, visiting Germany only sporadically over the years. I last visited the country when I was 4 ½ years old during the Christmas season, with my parents and younger sister, but not again — until a few weeks ago, and only because I had to.

Photo copyright of the author — Munich, December, 2022

Since moving a year ago to a small town in Albania, I had travelled to 10 countries, none of them Germany, and at no point did my wanderlust tempt me to go there. The universe, however, intervened in a way I could not ignore. To be dramatic, my health actually depended on it.

In my pursuit of tracking down medication I require (which I now know is manufactured only in Canada — lesson learned), the most viable option that emerged, was to order a slightly different formulation online and have it delivered to an address within Germany (where it is manufactured and sold…

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Expat Notebooks
Expat Notebooks

Published in Expat Notebooks

A collection of articles written by experienced expats and those contemplating the adventure. If you would like to submit to this publication, please contact me karen@karenespig.com

Karen Espig
Karen Espig

Written by Karen Espig

I am a contemporary figure painter. I am also a Canadian Expat currently in France. I write about expat life, relationships, and online dating.

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