Timo and Chrissy (Stratton) Waldhör, 2011
Chrissy and Timo at the Shamrock Pub, Eutin, June 2010
A desire to practice German led to the marriage of Chrissy and Timo. Chrissy, in Eutin for the KU Summer Language Institute in June of 2010, was at the Shamrock Pub with her friends when they invited some Germans, including Timo, to join them. The resulting whirlwind romance endured separation and visits to each other’s homes.
“It’s a lot different when you’re not face to face. You just have to talk double time,” Chrissy explained.
“As soon as we met, we hung out together. She was over quite a bit,” Timo added. “We planned a trip to the U.S. in December, but I couldn’t wait. So, I sold my RC cars and planes and made that money to come over for two weeks in fall break.”
Chrissy and Timo used Skype and Facebook to communicate after her return home. “She was already kind of poking the bear, like ‘Are you bringing over a ring?’” Timo continued. So he proposed during his visit in October before his return to Eutin. After telling his parents of his proposal to Chrissy, Timo explained, “I don’t know to this day what my parents were thinking.” Suddenly, the long-planned December trip turned into a honeymoon trip as Chrissy and Timo road-tripped across the western U.S., marrying in Las Vegas 6 months after their first meeting.
But, Timo explained, “You have to view from 2 different sides. Me coming over here to get married to her; it was not a bonding marriage in Germany.” Since the couple planned to move back to Germany, they had to marry there as well.
Gaining employment for Chrissy in Germany was not an easy task. “When I moved to Germany, my B.S. was not worth anything because I had a Bachelors’ degree in German and there are no jobs in Germany for people with Bachelors’ degrees in German. “ Eventually, she did find suitable employment.
The Waldhör family during quarantine, Easter 2020
Two years later, Timo and Chrissy decided to move to Chrissy’s hometown, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The decision was difficult for many reasons. They had to sell their belongings and move in with Timo’s parents, which led to some difficult times. “Terrible…I don’t miss that time at all,” Timo explained. “There was lots of passing each other and not talking.”
Now two families are one because Timo’s parents are next door neighbors in Tahlequah. “I really love it,” Chrissy said, “They are really amazing grandparents.” Chrissy’s parents also reside in the same city. And, as Timo stated, “Happy wife, happy life.”
Timo, now a U.S. citizen, says it took some time for him to feel at home. “When you leave all your friends behind it still hurts and lingers for quite a while; but you realize who was close and who wasn’t. It’s not all happiness once you make that major step of moving to a different country. It is still life, you still have to battle.”
Chrissy teaches 5th grade and Timo is a test engineer in the oil and gas industry. They have two children, Sophie, age 7, born in Eutin, and Noah, age 2. Both children are learning German. “I don’t regret it at all.” Timo said.