Not a day goes by without my wife Christel and I telling each other how lucky we are to be living on beautiful Vashon Island. Friendly, supportive people with varieties of nationalities, religious beliefs, no prejudice.

Dec. 7 we’ll be celebrating our 18th year as part of one of the world’s most wonderful places.

We made it all happen in the summer of 1989. As we were looking all over, from Camano Island to Lummi Island and Whidbey Island, for a place to build a cabin for weekend retreats, a friend of ours (who lived here on Vashon), asked us, “How about Vashon Island?” Christel replied, “Where in the heck is Vashon Island?”

Needless to say, we came over for a weekend and promptly fell in love. The next thing we know, Mary Jane Brown, a real estate agent, took us on a trip around to find just the right place.

Well, we did. Our earnest money was paid quickly, but we found out Monday morning that the property was sold on that weekend. Now came Christel’s second trip over on the ferry. The first piece of property that Mary Jane had showed us on Sunday was still up for sale. The check for the down payment was quickly put in the bank, and that was it.

We started  building in October of 1989 and moved into our beautiful home in December 1991.

Of course, quick decisions are common for us.

We met Oct. 13, 1962, and married Oct. 20, 1962.  Christel, the accountant and bookkeeper, added up the hours we were together that week: 54. Christel had immigrated from Germany three years earlier, in 1959, as Christel Feinhals. I’m the American: Hans Friedrich Wilhelm Stierle, born in Chicago.

This year’s Oct. 20 we’ll celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary. As I always joke, “We made a mistake, but we’re living with it.”

How do we know Vashon Island is such a wonderful place to live? Because just weeks after settling here, we became suscribers of The Beachcomber, which we read with passion every week, thereby being able to confirm our love for this wonderful Island community over and over again.

We’re retired now, but it’s back to work: Christel in her beautiful garden while I feed the squirrels.

Enjoy life, Fellow Vashonians!

— Hans F.W. Stierle is a retiree who enjoys life on Vashon Island.