Final Post

Writing up my experience of meeting my father's family in Germany, has made me realize how much I enjoy writing. I also want to continue growing the family connection - strengthening the ties between my family in Canada and my family in Germany.

So for those of you interested in following this journey, learning about our life in Canada, participating in strengthening family ties, you can follow along on the next link called, In My Own Words: http://beyond63.blogspot.com/

I look forward to your comments there. To read about the April 2009 family connection experiences, scroll down a bit and click on the April archive, then scroll down to the very first April entries. Postings to this blog are in reverse order of when they occurred.

Elfrieda

Post Script

There are so many people to thank for making this adventure of finding and meeting my father's family such a wonderful experience.

I want to thank my three sisters and their children and grandchildren:

To Christel and Peter Linden - thank you for hosting us so generously for two weeks. Words really cannot express how much we enjoyed our time with you. Thank you for sharing your memories, your sorrows and joys, your love. Thank you for the generous gifts to our family - especially the socks. Every time I wear them I think of you, Christel, all day long. We hope we can reciprocate in some small measure when you come to visit us here in Canada.

To their children -

Fritz-Peter and his wife Brigitte - I can't find the words - thank you for the encouragement in writing this journal, for the wonderful evening at your favourite place, the books, the photos, and the continuing friendship and love. To Philipp and Sandra - thank you for sharing your music. It gives me such joy everytime I listen to the CD's.

Christian and Kiki and your great kids - thank you for hosting the great welcoming dinner, the lunch on the last day in the Eifel, for the wonderful memories- To Olivia, for your lovely smile, to Vincent for sharing your AC/DC music with us, to Carlos, for letting me play SKIPBO again, to Eileen, for your great sense of humour in all the photos, and to Magdalena, for being so sweet. Thank you.

Iris and Jan and the girls - thank you, Iris, for being so supportive to your mom; thank you for the beautiful day in Cologne; Jan, thanks for the wonderful photos, the great lunch, taking us to the hotel, carrying all that luggage, for that wonderful smile. To the girls, thank you for the impromtu concert, for the chance to play in the sand, for sharing your world. Thank you all for letting us into your home and your heart.

To my sister Maria and her husband, Menn Hohn - thank you for the great day touring Baasem, dinner at your home, sharing your precious memories, dinner with your family for Menn's birthday, and the lovely breakfast on our last day. Thank you Maria for being curious in your youth, so that you knew about me and paved the way for this adventure. Thank you for the photos, and the book from my father. I treasure it.

To their children:

Werner - for being so loving, for being so curious - just like your mom - for being you.

Marita and Stephan Schmitz, Anne, Lukas and Katrin - for opening your home to us, showing interest and caring, letting us into your lives; Stephan - for sharing your memories of visiting Ontario; Anne and Katrin - for patience, for letting us take a photo of the month of August on the calendar; to Lukas, for sharing your hopes for the future.

Horst and Diane Hohn, Jonas and Eva - thank you for being so warm, so accepting, showing us the great region of Gerolstein, sharing your genealogy research (yes, Horst, we will learn to open the document), and to Jonas and Eva, for showing us how long you can hold a spoon on your chin before it falls off, how well you can ride skateboards and scooters, what super kids you are.

To my big sister Sanni - Susanna Heinzen and husband Hugo - thank you for inviting us for coffee and Kuchen, and sharing your photos, your memories, your music (we love the CD of your choir), the books. I was so glad that you were well enough to see us, Sanni - not once, but twice.

To your children and grandchildren in Germany- we were sorry we did not get a chance to see you this trip, but look forward to meeting you in the future.

To your daughter, Verena Heinzen-Perez - thank you for getting and staying in touch with us, for sharing photos and memories, for keeping me abreast of your mother's health when she was ill; we hope to see you in the near future here on this side of the great pond.

To Gerta Meyer, my sister-in-law and her family - Annagret, Josef, Leah and Alex - thank you for the lovely day in the Schneifel, for the great lunch and coffee and Kuchen, for sharing your memories of my brother, Paul; to Josef for the pen, to Leah for showing such interest even when you were so tired from your trip; to Alex for playing the drums for us.

To Helga Meyer, my other sister-in-law - for a wonderful afternoon filled with memories of my brother Bernhard, for the champagne, coffee and Kuchen and much, much laughter, thank you.

To my Uncle Willie Meyer and Tante Emma, his wife - thank you for being so warm, for sharing your stories and your memories of my father; for embracing me into the family; for the book, for the trophy beerstein which you won by hard walking, for giving me some insight into the Meyer family and for teaching David the meaning of the word "Pech".

To the family of my late Tante Maria -(Note: Tante Maria died on May 14th, after we returned home) - thank you for letting me meet Tante Maria for at least one time. Please accept our deepest sympathy.

To the cousins I met - Peter and Annaliese, Margret, Agnes and others - thank you for being so warm and friendly to a cousin you barely knew existed.

And to my mother's side of the family, who hosted us the first five days in Germany on this trip, a big thank you.

Thank you to Elvira and Walter Friesen, for your generous hospitality, for picking us up at the airport, for letting us use the computer when we knew Walter was itching to play chess, for hosting David's cousin Gerhard and Marita when they wanted to see us, for letting David rest and recover from his cold, for being so understanding and so full of love.

Thank you to Ira Ewert for hosting a lovely lunch, for having a great reunion for us all. It was a beautiful afternoon.

Thank you to my cousin Lena, who always makes me smile, and reminds me where my roots are on my mother's side of my family.

Thank you to David's cousin, Gerhard, and his wife, Marita, for taking time to drive up from Leipzig and spend two days with us - because we are family and you wanted to see us again.

Thank you to Katharina Dolheimer and her husband Viktor, for hosting us in Schlossholten-Stukenbrok for two nights, for your generosity of spirit, for sharing your children and grandchildren with us; thank you to Elena for driving us from Alfeld, and to Alexander (Sasha) for driving us to the train in Bielefeld - experiences of a lifetime.

Thank you to Artur Neumann and his son, Eduard, for making the effort to see us at Katja's, to share more family memories with David.

Thank you to our good friend, Frank Troesken, for giving us a tour of Bielefeld and taking us for coffee. We look forward to seeing you in Canada this summer.

Of course, thank you to Karl-Heinz Hartmann (AKA Charly)for doing the legwork on the ground in Germany, working with David, going out on a limb for us, making the contacts for us, connecting the dots, so that I could meet my father's family and have this life-changing experience. Thank you for picking us up in Cologne at the train station and driving us out to Stadtkyll and for the video of the first meeting - we shall treasure it. Thank you to your mother, Charlotte, for being so patient - even when you left her stuck in the car at Christel's!

And finally a great big thank you to my family here in Canada - my children for their patience in dealing with my distraction of the new adventure, knowing that I love you dearly. To my wonderful husband David, for understanding that there was a hole in my heart, and for helping me to fill it. I love you.

And now the adventure continues...

Blog Tip re: photos

If you want to see any picture more fully, just double click on it, and it will expand. To go back use the back button (usually, top left), however, as the X (top right) will take you away from the blog altogether.

Celebrating....

It is 6 a.m. - David and I are both wide awake. It is 12 noon in Germany - if we were still at Christel and Peter's, they would have sent up a search party by now!

Today the family on this side of the big pond, are all coming to celebrate Tracy's 39th birthday. Almost everyone who was here three weeks ago, before we started on this journey, will be here.

Get up - start unpacking - find the kitchen counter again - do the vacuuming - check emails. I am getting as bad as David with my obsession with the computer. Having found my family, I do not want to lose touch with them - not now, not ever!

It is great to see everyone - Lara and Dan - my how quickly Leo runs now - how Emma has grown. Tracy and Chris - has Duncan really grown that much in a month? He is almost as tall as I am. And Miriam - she is still smiling, losing her first teeth. And Marc, he learns all about his new cousins who are drummers, just like him. I realize how much I have missed my kids and grandkids.

I also realize how much I would like them to meet their family in Germany, their aunts, their great-uncle Willie, their cousins - everyone in this warm, caring family of my father.

David's brother Bill (another Willie) and his wife, Myrna - always so supportive of everything we do - who now call us "Those people who travel to Europe" - I have missed them very much, and welcome the chance to show our photos and our videos.

And Betty, David's youngest sister, she is there too - anxious to learn all about the new family.

It is a wonderful celebration - of family, of life, of love!

And I think, how fortunate I am - for a mother, who loved me, who made sure that I had everything I needed in life, who made me feel safe and taught me to be proud, who was strong and had great courage; for a father who was kind, caring, strong, courageous, funny, talented, boisterous, and so much more.

And even though I have no memory of meeting him, he is now deeply embedded in my heart, and I can feel him there every day.

I am fortunate to have a wonderful husband and partner - David - who for 44 years has put up with the Meyer temperament, but loved me anyway.

And I am fortunate to have such a great family - both in Canada and in Germany.

A happy ending to a wonderful adventure - yes, but the adventure continues as the family circle tightens and holds us all together.

Time now to sleep.

Taxis, Planes ...Airports, Airports, Airports ..

"Up in the Morning going to ... " Well, going to the Köln-Bonn Airport, actually.

We get up at 4 a.m. German time - that's actually 10 p.m. the night before in Canada. Now go figure that out!

Shower, get dressed - no curling of the hair - the curling iron rests somewhere in the garbage dump in Stadtkyll! David checks the computer one last time - eyes rolling - then packs it up for the flight.

The taxi we have ordered is waiting downstairs outside the hotel. David always loves talking to taxi drivers - find out where they are from, what languages do they speak, what's the best thing about their town... Me, it's just too early in the morning to be that sociable.

The taxi driver is not German. We say what a lovely city Cologne is - he hates it. He would have liked to immigrate to Canada. Too bad - not sure he would have fared any better there.

The airport is quiet - we check in. The plane gets loaded up - amazingly there are quite a few passengers. When did they get there? Maybe I was dozing - although I doubt it.

Somehow when David and I go to an airport there is a certain amount of stress - on both our parts. Me, I'm usually scared - David, he hates waiting around. This trip David spends a lot of time in airports searching for the internet access. I try to read.

The flight from Köln-Bonn Airport to Munich is uneventful. Thank goodness for that! One down, one more to go.

We have a long wait in Munich. We find a place to buy a coffee and some breakfast. The hotel we stayed at overnight did not even have their breakfast room open when we had to leave.

We spend the time after breakfast as we always do in airports now - David finds the internet access and goes on line. I pace back and forth - washroom, read book, back to the .....

We notice that at the counter to the Air Canada flight there is a long line forming. We already got our boarding passes in Köln-Bonn. I try to find out why people are waiting in the long line - nobody seems to know.

Finally, 30 minutes to boarding time, an announcement is made. Everyone who did not get their boarding pass in Munich, line up over here. Another different line forms. David and I join it - well, we got our boarding pass in Köln-Bonn. They only put one staff person on that line. It moves at a snail's pace. We keep looking at the clock. People are starting to board.... My anxiety levels are rising to a feverish pitch!

Finally we get to the front of the line. The Air Canada staffer says, Oh this didn't apply to you!
Believe me we are just not amused! When we get on the plane, we are at the back, next to the bathroom. Might be bad - might be good!

The plane is fully loaded. There do not seem to be any spare seats. We take off.

It is a long flight - long enough for David to watch three whole movies. He's in luck - two of them are movies he wanted to see and couldn't on our trip to Florida, Revolutionary Road, and Last Chance Harvey. The third, Yes Man, is a comedy. He laughs uproariously - earphones on. I just smile!

I listen to classical music while I try to read the book Fritz-Peter and Brigitte have given me. It is a murder mystery - a novel about a woman who returns to the Eifel to look for her father's family. Wow - did he know this was the plot line?

Sleep catches up with me and I doze a bit. Will have to return to the novel when I get home and can concentrate better.

We are about two hours out of Toronto when David looks out the plane window - he has the window seat - and notices all the ice and snow below us. It is a clear, beautiful view and David tries to capture it with his camera.

We start our descent. Weather in Toronto is stormy - rain. How appropriate - I'm feeling a bit rainy and teary eyed myself. The landing is not smooth, but we all survive. My watch stops - exactly 3:15 p.m. and won't go again!

Surprisingly our luggage is on the carousel very quickly - must have been the last pieces on. Customs is a breeze - we have little to declare, gifts, a couple of bottles of German Schnapps we bought in the duty-free in Munich - but we have the most valuable gifts of all, which no one can tax - lots of love from a wonderful, new family.

The airport limousine - well, van, really - from Brantford is there waiting to take us home. The driver recognizes David. Aren't you the former mayor, she asks. Oh God, I think.

Now don't get me wrong, I am very proud that David was the mayor of Brantford for seven years. But I have found from experience anyone that begins the conversation with this question, usually has an opinion to express - and being in a van, you are a captive audience.

She begins to talk - all her views about everything that has happened in Brantford and area in the last week. The little girl from Woodstock, who had just gone missing when we left three weeks ago, is missing still. She feels the mother had something to do with it - it says so on Facebook..... I am beginning to feel pain for a mother who does not know that her name is being bandied about by total strangers.

I just shut down. It is hard to be polite, but I am Canadian, and it is hard to be rude. So I close my eyes, and wait for the ride to end.

Finally, at 5:15 p.m. we arrive home. Luggage out, open the door, Maggie the dog is wiggling her whole self in joy, Marc gives us a big hug. We are home!

Our Last Day - Cologne

It is time to say good-bye to the ancestors in the room. It has been an honour sharing this place with them.

We eat our last breakfast with Christel and Peter. Maria phones to say good-bye. Werner is home today, so we say good-bye to him on the phone as well.

Today is May Day in Germany. It is officially a holiday and most people are taking a long weekend. Fritz-Peter has to work today, but he and Brigitte come down to see us off.

A few last pictures in the garden - packing the car - lots of big hugs from Fritz-Peter and Brigitte - last photos - Fritz-Peter and Brigitte on the steps - David and I getting into the car. It has been so great getting to know them.

And a long, last look at the house that my father built - the house that holds so many memories of him.

On our way to the autobahn, we drive through the village of Dahlem. Peter wants to see if there are any May trees on the houses.

One of the customs in Germany, which we learned about this week, is that young men who want to court a sweetheart, cut down a small tree and decorate it with coloured ribbons. Then, in the middle of the night of April 30th, they attach this tree to the house of the intended sweetheart.

When we were still at Christel and Peter's the night before, the young man across the road from them, and his friend, had each decorated a tree and hidden it in the garage. David had gone over to speak to them, and asked them what it was all about. We never did find out how the girl knows who the tree is from - who her suitor is. Each tree had different coloured ribbons. There must have been some sign of who had put up the tree, but we couldn't see it.

This morning, David had noticed out of the bedroom window, a May tree attached to a house up on the hill - but it had different coloured ribbons from the ones across the street. Not his girlfriend then.

No May trees anywhere in the small town of Dahlem. Peter is very disappointed. We pass Fritz-Peter and Brigitte's favourite restaurant. Soon we are on the autobahn, heading for Cologne.

Christel tells me about the time she and a friend, who was 75 years old at the time, walked to Cologne. It took them two days - they had one overnight stay on the way there. It is at least 80 km. to Cologne from Stadtkyll - I can't begin to imagine walking that far! I can barely make a couple of kilometres. But then she is my older sister, so maybe there is still a chance....
No, I don't think so.... They did take the train back home, though.

I have only been to Cologne once, that I remember - well, that does not count the two times I have been in the train station. My mother once told me that I had been on a ferris wheel in Cologne. I have no memory of that.

In 1993 we went to the Dome (Cathedral) with our good friend Kurt Seinsche and his wife. Kurt had been in the Aachener Soldaten Chor, in the Bundeswehr, and had been to Brantford several times. Kurt had also taken me to find my birthplace in Dabringhausen, Grosse Leder - now known as Wermelskirchen. Kurt himself was born in Wuppertal, not far from Wermelskirchen.

We had a wonderful tour of that area with Kurt and Ursula, his wife. I remember going to the place my mother had worked - I don't know for how long - called Maria in der Aue. It is now a retreat for the Catholic Church, but in those days was an orphanage or a hospital. My mother worked in the kitchen. I have a picture of my mother and me in the courtyard there - I was four months old. I just remember that when Kurt, Ursula, David and I went into that courtyard, I new instantly that I had been in that place before - the feeling was so overwhelming.

But I digress.

Peter takes the exit for Cologne - it is like going through a series of smaller towns or villages - lots of trees, lots of green space.

We get to Iris and Jan's - they are not home, but Christel has a key. Iris and Jan and the girls are out enjoying a bike ride in the fine weather. Christel and Peter have brought some of the lunch along, so we take it upstairs. David and Peter take a short walk.

Iris, Jan, Charlotte and Lilli return - the girls look quite grown-up with their bicycle helmets on and they are so excited to see Christel - Oma. But where are Peter and David? We see them at the corner, looking up at something. They stay there for some time. We wave from the balcony... they still stand there.

It turns out that there is a medical emergency on the third floor of an apartment building and the emergency services are evacuating the sick person using a firetruck lift.

When Peter and David return, Charlotte entertains - first with a reading from her favourite story book, then with a piano concert - singing and playing her favourite Christmas and Easter songs - much improvisation! How delightful! I look at Charlotte - she is almost three years old - the same age I was when I left Germany. Will she remember this day?

Jan prepares lunch and Iris instructs Charlotte in the fine art of setting the table. Charlotte does a great job, setting all the places. Lilli waits in her high chair, anxious to eat. What a wonderful, close-knit, warm family!

Lunch is delicious. What more can I say?

After lunch it is time for a rest. Lilli goes for her nap - so do Peter and Jan. Iris tries to get Charlotte to rest. Christel and I enjoy the view of the garden. There are lots of bright, colourful flowers in bloom already. We bask in the warm sunshine.

The naps do not last long - at least not Lilli and Charlotte's, so it is out onto the large balcony to play in the sand box. Sand everywhere! Christel and I keep sweeping...

Once sand starts to drift into the living room, it is time to tidy up and go for a walk in the park, where there is a large playground and more sand. We are quite a procession - Oma Christel, Opa Peter, Jan, Iris and the girls, and David and me bringing up the rear. We are not the only ones. There are many families walking in the street, in the park, in the playground, along the waterway in the park. You would never know you were in such a large city. I feel very comfortable, very much at home here.

Much too soon it is time to go back to Iris and Jan's. We watch Charlotte practice a few turns on her new bicycle.

Time to move the luggage from Peter's car to Jan's car, to say good-bye - Jan is going to drive us to our hotel. There are a few tears in the eyes - saying good-bye to this family I have just begun to know, this family I want to embrace with all my heart.

But I also know it is time to go home, to the family who awaits there - who are a part of this whole.

The Mercur Hotel is not far from the Rhine River - and not far from the airport. Jan helps us carry our luggage up to the room; we thank him - more hugs.

We have arranged with Karl-Heinz (AKA Charly) and his mother to meet us at the hotel to say good-bye. Charly, without whom this visit may never have happened, or at least not happened so quickly, was there on the first day of the visit, and now will be here at the end.

Charly and his mother, another Charlotte, arrive right on time. We share the photos on David's computer with them. They are delighted to see how the two weeks went - I get homesick for Stadtkyll already as we quickly scan through the pictures.

We find a little bar along the Rhine River to sit and drink a small beer, and watch the ships go by. There is lots of traffic on the river - cruise boats, freighters, all plying their trade up and down the river. It is a wonderful way to end the day.

We say our farewells to Charly and his mother. They still have quite a drive home. Charlotte would like to come back for a visit to Canada once more. Maybe we will see her in Brantford again.

Then it's time to check the luggage once more - pack and re-pack, making sure that nothing goes into the hand-luggage that is against the strict air regulations. Lay the clothes out for the morning - we will have to get up very early - and we are off to bed for a short sleep, then home.

Last Day in the Eifel ... for now

It's our last day in the Eifel - at least for this trip. We hope there will be future visits. The Eifel is a place where I want to lose myself - and find myself.

We start out with breakfast, not in our usual place at Christel and Peter's kitchen table, but in a downtown restaurant with Maria and Menn. They pick us up and we share a lovely hour or so with them.

During breakfast, Maria shares a book with us -about the Second World War and the destruction of Stadtkyll. It chronicles the story of the Allied invasion and the bombing of this town. It is an older book, no longer in print, so back at Peter and Christel's, David takes photographs of some pages in the book. The stories are all poignant - a reminder of man's violence to man.

We say good-bye to Maria and Menn - we promise to keep in touch with phone calls and letters. It has been such a joy meeting them both.

Sonia, the neighbour, drops over to say good-bye. She has a tear in her eye - we give her a big hug.

Christel, David and I go once more to the cemetery - that quiet place which overlooks the town. We are here to bring new candles to the graves and to light them in remembrance. Christel goes to little Sara's grave - a child as dear to her as any of her grandchildren.

I light the candle at the grave of our father and Christel's mother. This time, I do speak to my father. I tell him how much I love him, how much I miss not knowing him, what a wonderful family he has - both here in Stadtkyll and in Canada, how proud he can be of each and every member, and how very grateful I am that the family circle has been opened to include me and my family.

One of the songs that I have always loved to sing with David's family has the words, "Will the circle be unbroken, ...". I think of this special song here at my father's grave.

After a last good-bye to the ancestors buried here, we go to downtown Stadtkyll to find the house where Christel was born. It is under renovation, vacant - we take a photo. Then we stop and pick up Peter back at the house. He has prepared a soup for lunch.

Lunch today is at Christian and Kiki's house. We have not had the chance to see Kiki since arriving in Stadtkyll on that first day. It seems like such a short time ago.

Magdalena is sleeping when we arrive. Gradually all the children come home from school. School ends early in Germany - around 1 p.m. - and most children come home for lunch. It is great to be sharing this table again on our last day in the Eifel - just as on the first. Kiki is certainly a warm, generous hostess and we enjoy our time with her and the family.

We go back to Peter and Christel's and I start to pack up. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Cologne, with Iris and Jan and their family, then spend the night in a hotel before flying out early on Saturday morning.

Fritz-Peter and Brigitte come by for a light supper - go home, then drop by for a farewell drink and visit. It is very comfortable - none of the hectic pace of the very first day. It feels so much like family now. Fritz-Peter has brought two books for us - two authors from the Eifel. We will enjoy reading them, I know. Maybe he and Brigitte will come to see us some time. We look forward to that. They will drop by first thing tomorrow before we leave so we do not say our final goodbye now.

Christian drops by - we did not get to see him at lunch time, so we are glad we can say a proper good-bye.

At last we go up one last time to sleep in the room with the ancestors.

Enjoy Life; Eat Dessert First

Our time in the Eifel is drawing to a close. So much has happened; so many experiences to ponder; so many memories to share with our family back home.

I admit to the ancestors that I am getting a bit homesick - that often happens near the end of a journey.

After our usual breakfast with Peter and Christel, we work on various chores. David goes on a walk about town to take photos. I prepare clothes for the last three days of our stay. Christel chats on the phone with our sister, Maria. It is a wonderful, relaxing morning.

Christel and Peter have been generous hosts. We take them out to the Balkan Restaurant for dinner- an excellent meal, shared by four old friends. The owner again insists we finish off with a liqueur - this time the traditional Yugoslavian plum brandy - very strong! Good thing we are on foot and don't have far to go.
Some of us doze off for a while - David is on the computer, again - eyes rolling. When we are all awake, we give Christel and Peter a piece of pottery from our favourite artist - Steve Smith, from Talking Earth Pottery on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford. Steve's pottery has been presented to such notables as Queen Elizabeth II and is known throughout North America. He is a wonderful friend and he knows about this trip of discovery.

We are scheduled to go to Koffee and Kuchen at our sister-in-law, Helga's home. She is the wife of our late brother, Bernhard. Bernhard died in 1990 - at the young age of 57. Bernhard and Helga also had a son, Friedhelm, who died in 1984. There is one son remaining, Guenter, who has two children. But today we will only be meeting Helga.

Peter drops us off at Helga's - he has to drive grandchildren to music lessons in a neighbouring community and will be joining us later.

Christel and Peter spend many hours driving children to piano, flute, drum, and riding lessons as well as to other after school activities. They enjoy being so involved in their grandchildren's lives. It is such a close-knit loving family. What more could one ask in life?

Helga welcomes us with a big hug and a warm, engaging smile. She has the table set for the Koffee and Kuchen - but first we start out with some wonderful liqueur from the Eifel region. When Peter joins us, we toast with champagne. At this point Christel makes the sacrifice to be the designated driver. The other four finish off the champagne with much merriment!

I think we may even toast with wine as well - I don't remember - I just remember the joy, the giggles, the uproarious laughter. Oh, the Koffee and Kuchen - well that is there as well, in great abundance. Kuchen first, Koffee later, then meat and cheese later on.... the motto, Life is Short, Eat Dessert First, aptly represents our afternoon!

Finally it is time to go back to Christel and Peter's. Christel gets us all back home safely - well, we could have walked it as well in this small town. Peter leaves his keys at Helga's, David leaves his hat (what else is new?) - where are our heads?

Fritz-Peter and Brigitte drop by for a brief visit - they will stay longer tomorrow for a proper good-bye. The four of us - Christel and Peter, David and I - watch a movie on tv. Christel and I share some more favourite songs. Tomorrow is our last day in the Eifel, and it is time to sleep.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

When I wake up this morning, the rain is lashing against the window pane. Darn it all, I tell the ancestors. We were planning to go on a tour of the Vulkan Eifel this afternoon with Peter and Christel.

Peter assures us at breakfast that the rain is supposed to stop by noon. Our tour won't be until after lunch. So we should be just fine.
It's a quiet morning, in this household of four now. Christel and I do laundry - David and Peter get their hair cut. They have been planning this outing for a week.

David loves to get his haircut when he travels. It gives him a chance to talk to the locals, to find out the gossip - what makes a place tick. It turns out that the barber has been to Canada - in 1967 when Canada celebrated its Centennial with Expo 67. The barber was in the German navy and the ship docked in Montreal as part of the German pavilion.

The barber and his fellow marines would go to the Montreal discos with the girls who worked at the Ontario pavilion. It was one of the most popular pavilions at that world exhibition. David and I waited in line for several hours to get in. The barber and his friends were let in the back door by the hostesses they had met at the dances! Hmmm.....

We enjoy the remainder of yesterday's goulash for lunch. Then it's off to see the Vulkan Eifel - rain or no rain.

Actually, the rain does start to let up. We begin our tour with the lakes formed after the last volcanic explosion - oh, about ten thousand years ago. The volcano erupts about every 10,000 to 20,000 years - so it is due for another eruption any time soon - in the next 5o or 100 or 100,000 or more years. Not on my watch, please, I hope!

(More details in English:) http://www.bamjam.net/Germany/VulkanEifel.html

The lakes are almost completely round. There are not a lot of tourists at this time of year - and not in the rain, anyway. A picturesque chapel across the water catches my eye.

We drive down to a lake that is partially filled in. Getting out of the car, Peter spots a deer in the distance. David is able to capture the image using his zoom lense. We all take a look - the deer is obviously a pregnant female. The circle of life in the volcanic Eifel continues.

There are several other stops. An old castle - well actually two old castles - one high up on the hill, the other on the lower slope - they both remind us of battles of old and the long history of this place.

We stop in the town of Prüm. This is where Sanni lives, and Peter and Christel show us the church where she worships. Actually it is the Basilica of St. Salvator,and was named a Basilica because it has a relic. The relic consists of the sandals of Christ.

There is a small tour going on, so we join in. The tour guide recognizes Peter - he has brought many visitors here in his role as step-on tour guide. We are introduced and she gets quite excited about our story. Why isn't Fritz-Peter writing this up for the paper? We explain that this is a very personal journey for both me and for our father's family.

The doors to the shrine with the relic stand open. The guide looks the other way while David takes a photo. At the back of the church is the choir loft and the huge pipes of the organ. I try to imagine the sound of the choir in here and picture Sanni and Hugo singing in the church choir. Sanni has given me a CD of their choir, and I can't wait to listen to it. We leave the church and get back on the road.

We turn off the highway and just past the new hospital, stop to view a monument to a man-made disaster - an explosion of a munitions storage dump that took place on July 15, 1949. Twelve people died, much of Prüm was destroyed and the explosion could be heard as far away as Stadtkyll. The large crater remaining, now overgrown with grass and trees and bushes, does not begin to symbolize the size of the destruction.

We leave this monument of destruction, and turn back onto the highway. We are heading home, back to Stadtkyll. Traffic is starting to build up.

Suddenly Peter exits the road, and turns into a service area - gas station, restaurant. He explains to me that this is the place where my mother, my father and I met for the last time in 1948 - the place that my Uncle Willi mentioned.

I get out of the car and walk across the parking lot. In those days there were other buildings here - probably a pub, or other hostelry. I do not feel any sense of recognition, of being in this place before.

Instead I feel only great sorrow and pain - the sorrow of my mother at the final parting, the pain of Christel's mother. And my father - what does he feel? And what about me, I want to cry? I was there too!

I think of the note that my neighbour and friend, Martha, has given to David to give to me in Germany. She says, "Remember - you're OK! .... Your mother was an example of worth. Your father loved you from afar and you obviously were in his heart. Look how you all turned out! They would have been proud of you." Thank you, Martha.

But even so, just for a moment, I feel guilt - and I want to sink down to the pavement and weep!

I walk back to the car, quietly. I do not weep - my mother taught me never to show anyone if I am hurt or in pain. Hold your head up high and go on. It's very hard this time.

The ride back in the car is quiet. When we go home, David goes to Fritz-Peter and Brigitte's to work on his computer. I stay home, knowing I would not be very good company, and head up to bed early.

Coffee for four....

Today has been assigned as a rest day. We go down to breakfast with Peter and Christel. By now we have settled into a routine like an old married couple - ahem.... well couples. Amazing how easy that is to do with this family of mine.

Christel has picked rhubarb and we work together to clean and cook it. Sonia - the neighbour across the street - drops by to exchange newspapers.

Sonia has a speech impediment. She lives with her mother who is in her late 80's. She does wonderful crochet work and brings a pair of potholders for the kitchen as a gift for David and me. In turn, we give her a bottle of Canadian maple syrup from the Villa Nova area of southern Ontario - the place where David's family lived for many years.

The rhubarb is boiled down - not too sweet, not too sour! Well, maybe it could do with a bit more sugar, Christel decides.

Today Christel cooks our noon-day meal. Her forte is goulash. Man, is it good! For someone who doesn't like cooking, she does very well. So, goulash, and salad - the perfect meal!

Peter usually rests after lunch for a bit; Christel sometimes knits. She does lovely hand-knit socks and is working on her third pair since we arrived. I thought I was a fast knitter, but she outpaces me by a long shot. But then she is my older sister.

We spend some time looking through old books. The love of books and reading is a trait I share with Christel, our father, and other members of this large, extended family. We look at photographs. So many memories, so much to catch up - a whole lifetime, in fact!

Koffee and Kuchen this afternoon is for the four sisters. Sanni and Maria are going to join us. Of course, we will let David, Peter and Hugo come too. Menn is at his dialysis session and won't be back in time.

We have a lovely coffee hour - it feels wonderful to be sitting at a table, sharing a cup of coffee with my three older sisters. It feels natural - in fact, just right. Maria leaves early to be home in time for Menn and Werner. Sanni and Hugo stay for a while, but Sanni still tires easily following her stroke. Much too soon it is time to say goodbye. We won't be seeing Sanni and Hugo again this trip, so it is quite an emotional goodbye for me!

Christel calls Brigitte and tells her she has some rhubarb for her and Fritz-Peter. Soon Brigitte is at the door, container in hand. While she is there, Christel tries out her VCR, to show Brigitte a video about Stadtkyll that was taped from the tv news a few years ago. The VCR is not working right.

Brigitte is very technically competent but this VCR is beyond help. A repairman is called in, and he takes the VCR away. Brigitte offers to take the tape about Stadtkyll and make it into a DVD, with a copy for David and me to take home, as well as copies for Christel.

It is a lovely quiet evening. I have been playing Christel's piano from time to time; we share a good hour or so singing together. Our voices blend very well - her soprano, my alto. Most of the songs are familiar to me. Some Christel identifies as favourites of our father. David uses his camera to make small videos of us singing together. I know I will cherish these memories!

After the music session, we look at more photos. In searching for a particular picture, Christel discovers our father's war medals. How poignant - a reminder of suffering, a reminder of loss - and yet here in this place I have felt so much joy!

Fatigue is definitely catching up! Time to turn in for the night.

Another Sunday morning...

Somehow Sunday mornings in this room with the ancestors, bring back memories of old hymns from my childhood. "O Love That Will not Let Me Go"...by George Mattheson, keeps going round in my head. In particular, the opening lines of verse three, "O Joy that seekest me through pain,I cannot close my heart to thee;"... reflect my feelings this morning.

It has been an event-filled first week. I cannot believe it has gone by so quickly. I will need time to absorb all the tumultuous thoughts, and emotions.

No rush to attend the church service this morning. Christel senses the fatigue that is setting in, and we have permission to sleep a bit later.

Our plan today is to meet with Greta, wife of my late brother Paul. Paul was the oldest son of my father and his wife. He died in 1990.

Greta is still working, so Sunday is the only day that she can see us. Her daughter, Annagret comes with her, to pick us up and drive us to lunch. Annagret takes the route over the Schneifel, the region of the highest altitude in the Eifel.

The scenery is stunning! Every colour of green is painted in the hills. It is hard to describe it adequately, to do it justice.

Lunch is going to be in a restaurant in the village of Bleialf. Another beautiful view awaits us from the restaurant window. Annagret and Greta are very comfortable to be with. Greta shares memories of Paul, while we wait for her son-in-law Josef to bring her to grandchildren to lunch.

Greta's eyes tear up when she talks about Paul. His death from cancer was unexpected. Paul had worked in the road construction industry and this may have contributed to his cancer.

Josef arrives soon with Leah and Alex. Leah(15), just returned late in the night from a class trip to Rome and she is still very sleepy. Alex (12) is a great kid - he has a wonderful smile, that warms your heart. Josef works for STIHL industries - a company whose products are available in North America.

The food, the conversation, the view - all make for a relaxing and enjoyable lunch hour.

After lunch we drive to Annagret and Josef's home in Brandsheid to continue the visit - a wonderful afternoon of sharing photos and stories. By now Leah has found her second wind and looks through the photos we have brought from home with great interest. We listen to Alex play his drums and David takes a photo which we will show to our son Marc, another drummer.

Josef takes David across the road to show him an old bunker from World War II. Josef's parents used material from this bunker to build their home, which is next door. Josef's mother drops by to say hello. Too soon the afternoon winds down.

We can't leave until we have the Koffee and Kuchen which Annagret and Greta have prepared for us. Another bountiful spread - Weight Watchers is definitely going to be on my list of "to
do's" when I get home!

Another warm and welcoming family - I really don't know why I was so anxious before I came on this trip. All those fears are gone now.

On the way home, we drive through a brief, but heavy thunderstorm. Again, the words of the song, "I trace the rainbow through the rain,"..... I feel the emotional fatigue creeping in.

Back at Christel and Peter's house, Carlos is playing SKIPBO with Christel. Leah has accompanied her mother and her Oma on the drive back to Stadtkyll, so Leah, Annagret and I join in the SKIPBO game. I haven't played this game in years - not since David's cousin Henry, and his wife, Hermina spent five months with us, visiting from the U.S.S.R. - just around the time that the Wall came down in Germany.

The game ends and we say good-bye. It has been a great visit - much too brief.

At the end of the evening, David and I go to Fritz-Peter and Brigitte's. David has had high-speed internet withdrawal, I think. He and Brigitte work on getting him connected to the net while I look at Fritz-Peter's wonderful photos of Pennsylvania (where Christian, their other son, lives with his family), and Phoenix, Arizona.

The day has been busy, but not stressful. Time to go home now and sleep.

Celebrating Menn's Birthday - Maria and Family

We wake up a little later this morning. Sorry, I mumble to the ancestors, have a bit of a headache. But I know they understand. Some of them, I am sure, enjoyed a tipple or two in their day!

A quick shower, to wash the smoke out of the burned hair - and maybe the eyes too - and down to breakfast we go.
This day's plan is to go to celebrate Menn's birthday ( it actually was a week ago, but the family are celebrating today). We are going to dinner in Steffeln. Maria and Menn are going to pick us up. Afterwards, we will go to Marita and Stephan's for Koffee and Kuchen.

We have met Marita before as well as her daughters, Anne and Katrin. Today we will meet the whole family - Marita's husband, Stephan and their son Lukas, as well as my nephew Horst, his wife Diane, and their children, Eva and Jonas.

Stephan is a forester and is responsible for a section of forest in Rhineland-Pfalz. Lukas is studying to be a farmer - we know what that's all about, having grown up on a farm in Southern Ontario.

Horst is a doctor - a specialist in internal medicine with a practice in Koblenz. I have gone on Horst's website and am a little in awe. Besides his very specialized medical practice, he also enjoys sports - extreme sports. He is a black belt in Karate, loves to cycle, kayak, and climbs rock faces - among other hobbies.... My guess is that he would find the Grand River which runs through our city back home, just a little tame! The idea of white water rafting for seniors - what David's cousin from Leipzig called a rafting trip we shared with him on the Grand - would probably not appeal to him.

And the most extreme sport I have done recently, is to attempt to climb on a chair at a concert rehearsal, and to fall down... for which I got "Pech" from David. I admit to being a bit nervous.

Maria, Menn and Werner pick us up right on time, in Menn's old, green Mercedes. Menn is driving. We get to Steffeln, the village where the restaurant is located. Horst and his family are already there.

Once again, as has been the case for everyone I have met so far in this wonderful family of my father's, Horst and his wife, Diane, are there with big hugs, very warm, very welcoming. Jonas and Eva are great kids. They spend the time while we are waiting for Marita and her family to arrive, showing off their new scooters. There are some great hills to practice on.

We are greeted warmly by Marita and Stephan, Anne, Lukas and Katrin when they arrive. A lovely table has been reserved by Maria for this special celebration - a combination of Menn's birthday and an opportunity for the family to meet David and me. Once again, great food and plenty of it - served family style as we say in Southern Ontario.

Conversation flows easily. Horst and Diane speak quite good English. Again, we switch back and forth, English to German and back, to be inclusive. Diane was born in Holland, and she and Horst met at a disco dance in a park. They are both active people. Horst has not been to Canada, although he is familiar with some of the areas for kayaking, and white water rafting - Alberta, B.C., Ottawa River. No mention of the Grand River though in this list. Hmmm.... His next planned excursion is to go kayaking with a group to the Grand Canyon in the U.S. A.

After dinner, the kids get a bit bored with adult conversation and begin a contest of who can hold the spoon on their nose the longest. That provides some excellent photography opportunities for David!

Maria and Menn take the green Mercedes home to change for Maria's smaller car. I think the afternoon is a bit tiring for Menn. Horst and Diane invite us to travel with them in their van to Marita's, taking a detour into Gerolstein to show us where the wonderful bottled mineral water everyone drinks around here, comes from. Horst knows lots of back roads to get there, so we again have a chance to see a part of the Eifel we have not seen before.

We stop at a park in Gerolstein where a fountain with mineral water flowing directly from its source deep in the underground, is available to the public to quench their thirst. Luckily Diane has had the foresight to ask for plastic glasses at the restaurant we just left, so we are all able to have a taste. It's like drinking Perrier water from a public fountain - only better. What a treat!

We make another stop, this time at an old castle ruins high atop the hill in Gerolstein. From there we can see some rock climbers on the other side of the valley. The landscape here reminds me very much of the Niagara Escarpment which runs all the way from Niagara Falls to Tobermory and beyond (into Georgian Bay). We take some group photos - more memories to take back home. David takes a great picture of Horst and his family walking together on the rampart.

Back at Marita and Stephan's house, we toast new-found relations with a round of lovely champagne! There are lots of questions - about our life and our family. Stephan has been to Ontario before to learn about the forestry practices in Canada. He shares some interesting experiences from that visit. Werner is pleased to have a new aunt, and has many questions about our children - especially about our son Marc.

Koffee and Kuchen time again. Lots of delicious Kuchen - maybe time to go to Weight Watchers or some such facsimile when we get back home!

Horst and Diane and their family take their leave. They have a long drive back home. Horst promises to email a copy of a family tree he has worked on, to our daughter, Larissa. It is a different genealogy system from the one David uses, so we will have to figure out how to get the information into our program. Diane invites us to visit them at their home some time in the future. A great family - just like all the others we have met so far.

Marita gives us a tour of their lovely home. David and Lukas share some farming tales. Finally it is time for us to go back to Christel's. It has been a lovely day, and we thank Marita and her family for being so hospitable to us. Maria and Menn drive us back to Stadtkyll, taking a different route so that we get to see even more of the Eifel. We will see them again before we leave and thank them for the wonderful dinner.

When we get in the house, Christel and Peter have more visitors waiting to meet us - Peter's sister Anneliese, and her husband, also called Peter - who just happens to be a first cousin of mine. Wow - there are cousins by the dozens in this town! Anneliese and I discover we are practically twins - we were both born in the month of January, 1946. We toast with some more wine - or is it champagne. I am starting to lose track!

Peter shares a great memory he has of his Uncle Fritz. He remembers that my father gave him a 20DM when he came home on leave from his military service in 1957. He says it meant so much to him because Fritz knew how little the soldiers were being paid, and he remembered his own time in the army.

It was a great day! But I must admit to being very tired suddenly - and tomorrow is another busy day.