Thank you card

The story begins in a cheesy faux lodge-pole hotel room in Iowa's Quad Cities. We had just arrived and had flopped on the bed to plan our next few days. We knew we wanted to go to the local cemetery and "meet" some folks with DH's surname. Once connected to our complimentary wifi, I got a notification that someone had left me a message on Ancestry. Indeed, it was a user name that I recognized from my digging into the local dead folks, and she was offering information! DH immediately parsed the user name and did a bit of sleuthing on the book of face, and we surmised they were in the same town where we had just landed. 

I took a chance, and reached out--yes, indeed, they were local. And yes, they knew the graves we were seeking, since they are family. We met at the cemetery the next day, and they led us to the family plot as well as sharing stories about their visit to the family village--the same one DH's father was born in. We chuckled at the physical resemblances of our related husbands, and our grey-haired genealogical geekiness. We ended up spending most of the day together, eating lunch, telling stories, having ice cream, telling stories, etc. We have kept in touch, sharing information, parsing old German handwriting, and sharing our trees. 

So it was only natural that when we ventured to the Midwest last fall, we should visit. They opened up their (new!) home to us, shared their grandkids (yes, we tested first!) and even helped right a fallen stone from my side of the family. Because of course we were visiting a cemetery together.

I have a myriad of excuses for not sending a timely thank you card for their hospitality, so when we headed to Betra this December, I decided I must find a postcard of the town and send it. But none such card was to be found in the village. However, in the unsorted box of photos and ephemera from Tante's house (more on that treasure trove later) was a bunch of stationery, including a postcard of our little village from many years ago. 

It's headed to Iowa now as a thank you.