I really am a sour kraut

May this note-blog post find you in good health with your Medicare Insurance working properly.

The busy season is now nine weeks away and I’m making progress on all of my insurance recertifications for 2024.

In one zip code, I counted 14 different carriers and over 108 plans, isn’t that crazy? Six carriers to go and I will be finished with exams. I’m actually happy to go through the training each year because it really sharpens the saw.

The summer sure is flying, and soon, the grandvarmints will be back in school.

Most parents are thrilled but are you getting any time with any precious little monkeys? Better hurry!
Karl and Greta looking at senior citizen info.

Greta belongs to our third exchange student from days gone by, Alex from Germany. She has a special place in my heart. Plus, she laughs at most of the goofy jokes I share in a mixture of English and bad German.

We are overseas for Alex’s wedding.

Quantz holds a drink.

We didn’t just come for the beer and pretzels, honestly. But they are tasty Smile emoji..

The happy couple together.

This week, we found ourselves in a small German village, and it’s way more fun to attend a wedding than it is to be in the spotlight.Happy couple cutting the wedding cake surrounded by friends and family.

Hard to believe Alex grew from the typical teenager he was in our house, 19 years ago (see the pirate picture in last week’s newsletter.) Now he’s a thoughtful husband, a loving father and a very serious rising young executive.

You blink and everything changes.

Happy couple dancing.

Grandparents (and surrogate grandparents like us) can play a wonderful role in supporting both grown-up children and their little grandchildren.

For adult children, you can offer valuable advice, share life experiences, and provide emotional support during challenging times.

When it comes to the young grandchildren, grandparents (and other older adults) can create cherished memories by spending quality time together, telling stories, and passing down traditions. Their wisdom and patience can provide a sense of stability and love that greatly benefits the entire family.

I don’t know if we’ll ever have grandkids, and that’s truly ok. Connecting with others is one of life’s greatest joys, no doubt about it.

Picture of feet and Berliner.

After this delightful wedding, we drove the autobahn to Berlin, 185 kilometers an hour and I was the slow poke on the road.

Karl in Germany.

The last time I was in Berlin was 1986 and it was still a divided Cold War city, East and West, dark and grey. In East Berlin, I was yelled at by a Communist soldier for putting my feet up on the concrete bench in the train station while waiting for a train to Prague. The memory still frightens me.

If anyone tells you the world isn’t making progress, don’t believe them. Germany, despite all its problems, is a thriving democracy and we, as Americans, can be very proud of the help we gave them and continue to give.

My father was German. He emigrated to the US as boy in August of 1939, on the last free sailing of the Queen Mary one week before Hitler invaded Poland. I give thanks for being born in the US.

As my father in law says, “being born in the US is like winning the lottery.” Of course it isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty dang “gut.”

Rothenberg in Germany.

I shared the famous medieval walled village of Rothenberg with Quantz, it was one of my grandmother’s favorite villages. She lived nearby.

Quantz looking at the beautiful town.

You can visit the entire city in day and easily walk the old walls that are almost a thousand years old.

Karl holding a cold beer right before drinking it.

I remember visiting a German Gast Haus with my grandmother as a teenager and eating something so delicious that I used my fingers to finish the gravy (I’d already eaten all of the bread.) Ami (that’s what we called her) was so upset that she wouldn’t speak to me for years (seriously).

It was only after Quantz and I were engaged that things normalized (she always liked Quantz more than me.) What memories this trip is bringing back.

I truly am a sour kraut, but I thought this picture in a German bathroom was funny.

Bathroom wall art.

That’s it for this week; Keep squeezing the juice out of life!

Medicare questions or problems?

Book a time on my calendar or email Gray, Gray@theBig65.com.

If family or friends need help… referrals are the lifeblood of my business.

Let us know what’s going on and please send pictures :).

 

Karl Bruns-Kyler
(877) 850-0211
Book a time on my calendar here


As a novice to navigating the Medicare system, I cannot recommend the services of Karl enough. His knowledge has saved my wife and I a lot of money, both on the Medicare supplement insurance and the drug coverage. Costs you nothing to listen and has saved up thousands of dollars over time.
-Robert B

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Karl Bruns-Kyler is a Medicare insurance broker and independent Medicare agent licensed to help Medicare recipients in twenty-six states around the country, including:

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