GWEN FAULKENBERRY: The German who joined our family | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s piece “Gwen Faulkenberry: The German who joined our family” recounts how a German friendship began during a family rental near Alligator Point, Florida, around 2010. The author’s children, playing on the beach, met blond boys speaking German, learned the language again at home, and later became pen pals with the boys’ mother, Nina, and their families. A student exchange followed when the oldest child was about 16: Grace visited Falkensee near Berlin and later hosted Nina’s twin sons, Nick and Tim, for three months. Grace returned fluent in German, and the twins enjoyed American football, deer hunting, and rural life on the family’s 1,000 acres in Arkansas. The families stayed in touch, including visits after high school, and a Berlin stop in summer 2023 connected again, with Nina in Arkansas in May for Grace’s wedding reception.