Monika
was born in Dessau in what became East Germany after WW II. She still
remembers being underground in air raid shelters during the bombings in 1944
and 1945 although she was only three years old at the time. They lived under
Russian troop occupation and then under the communist East German regime.
Her father had
been put in prison because he had mentioned to a friend that he was going to
Berlin to see how things were in the "West". Monika and her sister
were taken away from their mother and lived in an orphanage for two years
because the authorities questioned the parenting ability of anyone wanting
to go to the West. They were returned to their mother in 1954. Her mother
wasted no time in planning an escape to West Germany with Monika and her
younger sister. They took nothing with them except an invitation to a fake
wedding and a
small overnight bag. They managed to get to West
Germany by using this fake invitation to the wedding in Berlin. They took a subway
train to West Berlin during rush hour and lived in a refuge camp for six
months. Later they were moved to a small town in southwestern West Germany
where there was employment in a shoe factory. Her
father was released from prison and joined them several years later
after promising the East German authorities that he could go to the West and
bring them back. Monika
worked in a shoe factory until she married an American serviceman at
age sixteen and
moved to the USA. She learned English by watching cartoons on television.
Monika started teaching
painting classes as part of a hobby and soon learned that there was no
place to obtain art supplies in Park Rapids. She and her husband took
out a mortgage on their home, obtained a tax number, and naively opened an
artist supply store in their basement in 1984. The next year they rented a
small area on main street in Park Rapids. Monika worked in the local
hospital as a scrub nurse while her husband who had retired from military
service worked in the store. Not much later her husband passed away and she
had to make a major decision...Close the store or quit the scrub nurse
profession. Fortunately as things turned out the decision to work full time
in the store was a good decision.
Don
entered the scene in late 1987. He grew up in Park Rapids and went on
to Hamline University to obtain degrees in mathematics, physics, and
chemistry. He worked on the Messabi Iron Range for two and one-half years as
an analytical chemist. At that point in his career he decided that the
position did not have a great future so he quit and went on to graduate
school at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He graduated with
a M. S. and a Ph. D. degree in analytical chemistry with minors in inorganic
chemistry and ceramics. After a career as a research chemist at the General
Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady New York he retired and returned
to his roots in Park Rapids. Don and Monika met at a lunch counter. Monika
was taking a break from the shop and Don had just finished a tutoring
session in math with a high school student. After a whirlwind
courtship Don and Monika were married in 1988. Monika is the owner of the
shop and it was through her efforts and energy that the store morphed
from a small frame shop and art supply store to a full-fledged quilt shop
with over 5000 square feet of merchandise space. The picture framing
business, the art supply, and the craft supply inventories have been sold or
discontinued. Monika's is now devoted to fabrics, yarns, and associated
supplies. Monika produces quilts, patterns, and keeps the store functioning
while Don handles the computer problems, bookkeeping, and snow shoveling.
Don returned to school for the third time recently as he is now an enrolled
student at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesota where he is taking
advanced computer courses and tutoring several chemistry courses.
Monika
was born in Dessau in what became East Germany after WW II. She still
remembers being underground in air raid shelters during the bombings in 1944
and 1945 although she was only three years old at the time. They lived under
Russian troop occupation and then under the communist East German regime.
Her father had
been put in prison because he had mentioned to a friend that he was going to
Berlin to see how things were in the "West". Monika and her sister
were taken away from their mother and lived in an orphanage for two years
because the authorities questioned the parenting ability of anyone wanting
to go to the West. They were returned to their mother in 1954. Her mother
wasted no time in planning an escape to West Germany with Monika and her
younger sister. They took nothing with them except an invitation to a fake
wedding and a
small overnight bag. They managed to get to West
Germany by using this fake invitation to the wedding in Berlin. They took a subway
train to West Berlin during rush hour and lived in a refuge camp for six
months. Later they were moved to a small town in southwestern West Germany
where there was employment in a shoe factory. Her
father was released from prison and joined them several years later
after promising the East German authorities that he could go to the West and
bring them back. Monika
worked in a shoe factory until she married an American serviceman at
age sixteen and
moved to the USA. She learned English by watching cartoons on television.
Don
entered the scene in late 1987. He grew up in Park Rapids and went on
to Hamline University to obtain degrees in mathematics, physics, and
chemistry. He worked on the Messabi Iron Range for two and one-half years as
an analytical chemist. At that point in his career he decided that the
position did not have a great future so he quit and went on to graduate
school at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He graduated with
a M. S. and a Ph. D. degree in analytical chemistry with minors in inorganic
chemistry and ceramics. After a career as a research chemist at the General
Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady New York he retired and returned
to his roots in Park Rapids. Don and Monika met at a lunch counter. Monika
was taking a break from the shop and Don had just finished a tutoring
session in math with a high school student. After a whirlwind
courtship Don and Monika were married in 1988. Monika is the owner of the
shop and it was through her efforts and energy that the store morphed
from a small frame shop and art supply store to a full-fledged quilt shop
with over 5000 square feet of merchandise space. The picture framing
business, the art supply, and the craft supply inventories have been sold or
discontinued. Monika's is now devoted to fabrics, yarns, and associated
supplies. Monika produces quilts, patterns, and keeps the store functioning
while Don handles the computer problems, bookkeeping, and snow shoveling.
Don returned to school for the third time recently as he is now an enrolled
student at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesota where he is taking
advanced computer courses and tutoring several chemistry courses.