I wonder what it is like, for those who knew the barrier firsthand, for whom it still stands ten feet tall behind closed eyes, to look around and see and celebrate with the fruit of it’s collapse – a whole generation of free young people…
No one is untouched by history’s realities, but there is a certain amount of wonder, a spark that lights the heart of the freed captive who meets the eyes of one freer than he, a younger brother upon whose face oppression has yet to cast its ugly shadow.

In the midst of your tragic recounting, I enjoyed the tale of escape – there are more such tales to be found at this link, including one I remember my seventh grade teacher telling me, where a man lowered a sports car and drove himself and his family right under one of the barriers!

http://kn.theiet.org/magazine/issues/0919/technology-of-escapes-0919.cfm