Peter

I recently found out about the passing of my friend Peter. When I first arrived in Hamburg and had no friends, it was Peter who got me through it all. We didn't know each other for so long - only for four months - but Peter was as good a friend as a friend can be.

This is Peter (and me) in Germany, 2005:

Peter (full name Peter die Pflanze, 'Peter the Plant') was my buddy. We had our ups, we had our downs, we went on the underground together. He told the best jokes:

I'm afraid I can't repeat the joke here, because it was quite rude.

Peter and I met each other on my first day in Hamburg (he originally comes from Dammtor railway station). We were introduced by my friends Philipp and Grit. We would chat away most evenings while watching Friends. When I had to leave Hamburg, I was heartbroken - where would Peter go? This was a real worry. In the end, my good friends Lucy and Chris decided to foster him. They looked after him well, but recently I got the message that Peter had died. Passed away. Peter is survived by two little plantlings (but I haven't met them yet). None of us ever met Mrs Peter die Pflanze.

You may be wondering why we called him Peter die Pflanze, rather than just Peter. This is because we knew someone else called Peter (Peter der Mann, 'Peter the Man') and you would not believe how often we got them confused in conversation. So we had to give them surnames. Thinking about it, Peter der Mann probably had a surname already... but we never asked him.

R.I.P.

Peter die Pflanze

'He was a plant.'