Longing to know you continued....

The information my new German friend had provided me included the married name of my Grandmother Trientje's sister. Having this information opened up more doors for me to open and look for her family. I think when I first typed in her husbands name in the search box on ancestry.com I really didn't expect to find anything. But for luck I typed it with my fingers crossed - slowly one letter at a time "C R A M E R". As the search engine worked its magic and I sat waiting, I knew it was a long shot and probably I would again be confronted by a locked door, so I wasn't really expecting to find them. I think I was actually in shock when up popped a tree posted by another German native - oh my gosh - she was there too. Now sometimes on ancestry.com people leave their website address and this particular one included that information. In searching through Klaus' site I was thrilled when I saw Altje Saathoff Cramer and information about my G-GGrandmother as well. I could match the information there with my known facts - I quickly shot off an email to Klaus and he returned an email with additional information. I could not wait to tell my Mom that I found her - the feeling for me was indescribable. For me finding these people is like having a loved one return home after years of not seeing them, although these people have been gone for many years somehow for me it is as if they are now home - safe and sound.

Now loaded with more information I could try another search for the Cramer family and that is when I found the family of my GGAunt's inlaws who had emigrated to Nebraska. It was kind of funny they had lived in the same town in Nebraska that my Grandpa E. was born - how odd was that? Any way, I shot off an email to this stranger to find out what she might know about my family and that's when I discovered a kindred spirit. Karla and I share the same family but there is no blood between us - she is on the paternal side and I the maternal side. I call her "my-almost-cousin" - we continue to search for a blood relation because we're too much alike not to be blood - LOL. We exchanged information and I gave her Klaus' website so she could pull off that information and make contact with him also. We sent many emails back and forth, sharing family history and stories and learning about each other also.

Then it happened - I get an email from my German Gentleman - oh my - the words jump off the page - "I have found your family - and they would like to make contact with you." Oh my gosh, oh my gosh - can this be for real? "Absolutely - yes! - was my response to his email. Then I quickly sent an email to Karla to share the news with her. And then came what seemed to be endless days of waiting for another email from him - I must have checked my emails a hundred times a day. Waiting, waiting, waiting - and then finally the email with the names, addresses and email addresses came.

As I typed that first email to my cousin in Germany a kind of peace came over me as I felt "The Ties That Bind" putting my family back together once more..........