N*ked On the Roof…

Despite my “awakening” occurring eighteen years ago, I remember the moment like it was yesterday.

As a twenty one year old soldier surrounded by nine Germans in a room not much larger than a modern SUV, the first thing on my mind, since I was in their hometown, was not to look too Jewish.

Filled with James Dean impersonators, beer bottles and cigarette smoke, this small room was typical of most rooms full of twenty-something Germans in the early 1990s.

Despite the added attention of being the only American in the room, I managed to sit quietly and just listen even though the only German I had learned at this point was from dubbed episodes of Married With Children.

No one in the room seemed to take notice as the oldest “James Dean” began pulled a rolling paper out of his pocket, began cutting open his Marlboro and spreading the tobacco on the paper.

He added a grassy looking concoction mixed with seeds, licked the paper and lit his homemade cigarette.

At that moment, I still didn’t understand what was happening.

After his two drags on the cigarette, I was still clueless.

But, as he passed the cigarette to the person next to me, I noticed the smell.

It was that very second that the previous twenty one years of my life became clear.

For as long as I could remember, there was always a room in my house that smelled exactly like this marijuana cigarette.