By Anke Longest
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought about living on a farm in Virginia, owning cattle and horses! One never knows what the future holds.
I was born in Hamburg, Germany during World War II. The horrors of five years of bombing and destruction, postwar years of starvation and freezing were difficult. We kids scraped pictures in the ice-covered windows. Slow recovery of infrastructure, the Cold War, that all was part of my childhood. We learned to survive!
We were young and found happiness in play, sports and school… I met my husband through mutual friends in Würzburg, South Germany. He was drafted for two years directly after his internship as a doctor. I fell in love with this tall, polite, mature American and after two years made the decision to immigrate.
After numerous American Consulate visits and legalities, I departed Bremerhaven in 1966 on the M/S Berlin for America. Standing on the ship deck, with the band playing farewell music and seeing my parents disappearing on the pier, was tough! I cried bitterly!
Good that I had a friend in my cabinmate. We shared our anxieties, expectations and looking forward to a new life. Both of us were going to get married.
After 10 rough days at sea, passing the Statue of Liberty and shortly afterwards docking, seeing my tall Don waiting with hundreds of people at the pier, I felt anxious to leave this last piece of Germany, my ship.
New York at Easter with its parade and all these fancy hats was more than strange. As we travelled south towards Virginia, seeing the woods and green fields, I looked forward to my new home. When I saw our farm with the little white Cape Cod house, I liked it at once!
We got married in the living room of my sister-in-law the following week. Our only guests were Don’s family and his two partners from the Medical Center as well as the local pharmacist, their wives and the preacher – all strangers.
I would have been happy without the ceremony. All I wanted was my husband and Trap, the German Shorthair Pointer, we had shipped from Germany.
Years later I often thought how it must have felt to my parents when they got the phone call that their daughter was married and no one was there from their side – no flowers, no cards. It made me very sad.
Don bought the farm of 130 acres while I was still on the Atlantic. My in-laws were country folks, lived five miles from us, owning a country store with gas pumps, fishing tackle and such. Their life was centered around the store and adjoining farm, gardening, family and church.
Sundays were spent around the large kitchen table behind the store with fried chicken, pies, homemade yeast rolls and veggies from the garden. All the family was there When Don was absent being on call, I felt lonely! This was a totally different lifestyle than I had ever known, and nothing like the times Don shared with me as a soldier in Germany; there we had fun and time for us!
I got homesick, wrote weekly long letters to my parents. Mail took only two to four days to get to Germany (now it may take weeks, months or get lost). I painted the farmhouse, planted tulips, roses and a vegetable garden, took care of my German Shepherd puppy and yearling Walking Horse filly. I learned how to crimp hay with the old Ford tractor. There always was plenty to do. When Don came home, we worked on fencing. An oil furnace vent between living and dining room was the only heat in our drafty home.
The first winter I ordered down bedding from Germany, and we stayed warm. A window AC unit was installed at the staircase. We worked endlessly; we made it our Home!
When I became pregnant, I realized that it was important to become an American citizen. I wanted equal rights. I studied the Constitution, Bill Of Rights, government and states. My English was good. Three years after my arrival in America, I was a mother to a son and a Naturalized Citizen.
I was also a farmer, Country Doctor’s wife who answered patients’ phone calls at all hours, not always truthful about my husband’s presence. Patients drove to the farmhouse, waiting for my husband to come home, any day, any time.
My “outlet” was tennis, especially when our two children went to St. Catherine and Benedictine High School in Richmond. I had my own tennis court on the farm, sometimes practicing before taking the children on the hour-long trip to school.
I played singles and doubles at Willow Oaks Country Club.
My husband and I rode pleasure horses with friends and eventually got into the Tennessee Walking Horse business. We built a stable, trainer’s apartment, riding and cantering ring and converted a moving truck into a horse van.
Next, our first trainer was hired. For 38 years I showed Tennessee Walkers with many different trainers in Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
I won two World Championships, three-year-old stallion and four-year-old stallion, and two Reserve Championships in the two-year-old mare and aged mare divisions.
I “only” had one accident. A young mare got spooked, reared up and threw me. It cracked my vertebra, leaving me flat in bed for weeks.
The travels to the out-of-state barns and competing in the Show Circuit from March to late Fall was my life as well as the one for the children when out of school. While my husband often flew to the shows, my absence from the family and the many nights alone in the hotels plus the stress of competition were difficult.
Our social life and friends were anchored in the horse world!
On our farm we had also a breeding operation. The mares were artificial inseminated by World Champions in Tennessee and Kentucky. During foaling time many nights were spent sleeping on hay bales in front of a stall; the use of a foal alert was of great help.
The foaling was an exciting but sometimes stressful event. If a mare had trouble and the vet had not arrived in time, then it was all hands on deck. Over the years we lost some but saved many.
The Yearlings were my favorites, frisky and powerful. They had to be taught to lead before being sold at auctions in Tennessee and Kentucky. We harvested our own hay and raised beef cattle, from Charolais and Beefmaster to Black Angus.
My family was fully engaged in the multiple requirements of farming, from repairing and running equipment to harvesting and taking care of the animals. I still own our farm, hope to keep it in the family. A farm means work, dedication, money and love of land and nature.
There were my yearly flights to Germany, one time with both my kids in diapers. We were also fortunate to have my German family visiting us often in Virginia.
My husband’s love for boating and the water was shared by our family. In later years we owned a second home at the Chesapeake Bay. Whenever the farm “allowed” it, weekends were spent on the water.
Age crept up on us and Don retired from the Medical Practice at the age of 70. The horse world was left behind, and the farm operation now only consisted of cattle and hay harvest.
Our children took over a lot of the tasks. It was time for new adventures, exploring America by motorhome! A 45’ RV was our home now, pulling the Jeep with bikes on the rack behind. ONLY the two of us! NO patients, NO timetable! We just traveled, heading West.
This beautiful continent with its diversity of nature, people and history was so impressive, so exciting, so much to see and learn! It reminded me of the book I read while crossing the Atlantic 40 years prior, “Travel with Charley” by John Steinbeck.
Finally, we settled in a RV community north of Lakeland, FL, became “snow birds” and made new friends. All of us loving the adventure of RVing!
We enjoyed going to church, Gospel singing and traveling. Summertime and holidays were spent with family in Virginia. Life in Florida was so carefree – no dress code, swimming, trips with our new recumbent bikes and, of course, a golf cart.
Florida is the “Sunshine State.” These were the best years of our life, just too short, only seven years.
Don’s melanoma and cause of death brought me back to Virginia. I moved to our house on the Bay, eventually becoming a Club member at RW-C.
Swimming at the pool and watching the interactions of residents and staff, while enjoying a cup of coffee, were so positive. And the dog stories Edna and I shared!
It all made it easier to decide this final move to my cottage with my beloved and now deceasedGerman Shepherd, Ben.
I feel deeply that God has held my hand through this long-life journey, its dangers, adversities and joys. I feel thankful, humble and very blessed.
Reprinted with permission of Our Neighborhoods Winter 2025-26 edition.