Meeting for the First Time

My resolve to stay in Charly's car is gone in a second! My sister Christel runs down the steps to greet me and we both share a very emotional meeting - Christel crying and me telling her not to cry! There are cameras popping all around, first from Jan, Christel's son-in-law and Iris's husband, then David, then after big hugs, Fritz-Peter , Christel's son, as he and his wife Brigitte come up the drive, and finally, Charly still running the movie camera.

In the excitement, Lillie, Christel's one-year old grandaughter, falls on the stairs. As we all troop in to check on her, and meet Iris, Charlotte (Lillie's sister), Eileen (another grandaughter) and Peter (Christel's husband), we forget all about Charly's mom still in the back seat of the car. Charly gets his mom out and continues filming!

In the house, Charlotte is sitting, ready for coffee and wondering what all the excitement is about. It is an wonderful moment - a joyful meeting for the first time - a curious moment as we all search each other's faces to see the people we have been reading about, talking to and emailing, for the first time. And it is also bitter sweet, as we think of the people who have brought us to this point, and what the circumstances of their lives were at the time when this all started so long ago.

Christel and I share a few minutes of reflection when she shows me to the room we will be staying in for the two weeks of our visit to the Eifel. This is emotional for both of us. The photos of the ancestors on the bedroom walls remind me that the family history is a long one and that I have only just begun my small part in that history.

After the traditional coffee and Kuchen, during which Eileen plays on the piano, we all get in the cars and drive to Christian and Brigitte's (AKA Kiki's) house for dinner. Christian and Kiki have five great kids - Olivia, Vincent, Carlos, Eileen and Magdalena. Their home is on a large hill overlooking Stadtkyll - you get a great view of the church in the distance from their back yard. Christian and Kiki are warm, gracious hosts who have the perfect party house.

After another round of introductions and lots of hugs, Brigitte brings out the champagne. It is absolutely the best and most welcome champagne I have had and it is perfect for that moment. I discover the piano in the corner. Music has always helped me to find calm, and I find that calm this day with my favourite hymn, "Amazing Grace". It seems appropriate.

Kiki has prepared a wonderful meal. What a great group - I am amazed that it is so easy to feel a part of this warm and obviously affectionate family! Philip, Brigitte and Fritz-Peter's son, and his girlfriend Sandra, arrive a little later, and are just as warm and comfortable to be with as everyone else. After dinner Charly entertains with a few songs on the piano, Christel and Peter share a dance, and the rest of us talk, or listen as we get to know one another or reflect on the day.

Soon it is time to go - Jan and Iris and the girls back to Cologne, Charly and his mother back to her house several hours drive away, and the rest of us back to homes in Stadtkyll. Christel, Peter, David and I spend a long time talking - I tell my story, Christel shares her memories of her mother and father. As I get a more rounded picture of my father (now really our father, I say for the first time), I get the strong impression of a vital, strong, caring and sometimes very complicated man.

Then it is time to go and sleep with the ancestors guarding on the bedroom walls.