We've recovered from jet lag and caught up on tasks that piled up while we were on our 17-day adventure in northern Germany and Scandinavia. 

Here's a short report on family history highlights of our trip:

1) The day we arrived in Germany we met my half-second-cousin, Marie Lorenzen, for dinner in Dagebüll. This was just a ferry-ride away from Föhr Island where my grandfather was born. Marie is a charming and sharp 94 years old. Although she doesn't speak English (and I don't speak German), she was accompanied by nephew Andreas and great-nephew Peter and his wife Sylke who translated for us. We shared family trees and photos and stories. Marie's grand-mother, Paulina, was my grandfather's half-sister. It was an outstanding start to our trip!

The next day Bill and I took the ferry to Föhr Island, part of the north Frisian Islands now called

"The Frisian Caribbean." We spent several hours exploring the village of Wyk, a lovely seaside resort town. My grandfather was born in Midlum, a few miles away near the center of the island. He left Föhr with his family as a baby in 1883. How the island must have changed since my great-grandfather emigrated with his wife and children! 

Pictured here is one the businesses we saw in Wyk showing the original spelling of my maiden name. In the U.S. my family spelled their surname "Henrichsen."  

2) I'd made many attempts to find Bill's relatives in Sweden, to no avail.  Jan Carlson, a Swedish family historian in Minnesota who's helped us immensely, suggested I contact local genealogical societies. I hit "pay dirt" with one of my emails. 

Ingrid Eriksson, a wonderful woman who lives in Svenljunga, Sweden, was incredible! She and her husband met us when we arrived in the village and took us to the Revesjö church where she'd arranged for Bill's relatives to meet us. Bill and Bert Gustavsson were standing together reviewing names on a family tree - and struggling a bit with language differences - when they realized their grandfathers were brothers! They were second cousins! We also met another second cousin, Ingegerd Sjöqvist, and several members of Bert's family. 

They took us to the places where Bill's ancestors had lived, including Flyåsen where his grandfather was born in 1865. Only the stones of the foundation remain, one of which Bill brought home as a souvenir. It was an emotional day and another highlight of our trip! At long last Bill's interest in family history was kindled! The next day we drove to Fritsla where another genealogy volunteer shared additional research he had done on the Eliasson/Ellison family, and we visited a cemetery and ancestral homesites.  

3) We drove on to Sollefteå, more than 500 miles further northeast. Carl Fredric Mähler, a master blacksmith, moved there from Solingen in about 1748 and brought German forging methods to the Sollefteå bruk (mill). Several generations of Mählers would later work at the mill. While we arrived there with no solid leads, we enjoyed driving around the beautiful area along the Ångerman River and viewing the locale around Resele where later Mähler ancestors lived (e.g., Norrtanflo, Höven, Rödsta). We talked to nearly everyone we saw - on the street, in the cemetery, at the store, by their homes along the road - and followed every piece of advice given to us (knock on this or that door and talk to this or that person). By an amazing set of circumstances, we came to tap on the door of "a man who lives in Stockholm but is here elk-hunting this week and who knows much about family history."

Carl, "the man who knew about family history," was

understandably surprised to find us on his doorstep. But he graciously helped us - and yes, he had information about the Mähler family there on his computer. He took the time to answer our questions and even transferred a file from his laptop to our laptop. He was so very knowledgeable and helpful.

We sensed we'd met someone with more than a passing interest in genealogy. Imagine our surprise later when we googled and discovered we'd knocked on the door of Carl Szabad, one of the foremost genealogical researchers in Sweden! To say we had a memorable day is a huge understatement!

On our trip we made memories and connections for a lifetime!