In the fall of 1965, Lise Hansen rescued me. I was a large, freakishly tall, pubescent 12-year old American enrolled in a public school in Virum, Denmark; a suburb of Copenhagen. My classmates were all petit — a head shorter than I, their growth spurts yet to come — Danish pre-teens whose English consisted of parroted lyrics from The Beatles and Herman’s Hermits and Level 1 ” Learn to Speak English” textbooks. I was a circus side-show thrust into their midst and the boys, in particular, found taunting me rather amusing. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper; miserable enough that, unbeknownst to me, my parents were considering the extreme and expensive option of putting me in a private American school.

Old friends Anne and Lise.

Then Lise saved me. Lise was also a 12-year old enrolled in the Virum Skole, though in a different class than mine. She was born in the United States — coincidentally and remarkably in the same hospital that I was born — and lived there for 11.5 years. Six months earlier her Danish parents had decided to return to their homeland. Lise had a head-start on me in learning Danish (having two, native speaking parents didn’t hurt), but she was still very American. Somehow her mother or the school authorities got wind of my plight and Lise was dispatched to befriend me.

With Lise’s help I found my footing in my middle-school class, learned Danish and by the end of the year was begging my parents to stay longer. Lise and I established a friendship that after 48 years is as strong as ever. We now have husbands, kids and grand kids. We’ve had long careers and are contemplating the next phase of our lives. We make a point to get together with our better halves (who get along great) nearly every year for an adventure. We alternate between North America and Europe and find challenging places to hike, bike, kayak and have fun. This year it was Bornholm.

As we leave Denmark and head to France for the L’Etape du Tour, I want to say THANK YOU to Lise and her wonderful husband, Vincent. Thank you for your hospitality, your planning, your choice of venue and, by far the most important, your friendship.

Lise and Vincent

See you next year (Lake Superior?)