From Coincidence to Connection

Dating the man who is now my husband was an adventure in my own family history.

In the first few weeks, we learned that we were both came from families with Germanic ancestry.  We are both the oldest children, with only one sibling each.  Our mothers were both one of three sisters.  They were both the middle sister in their families.  Their mothers, our maternal grandmothers, both married men named Henry.  Well, a Henry and a Heinrich.

But, it wasn’t until both our maternal grandmothers passed away - on the same day - that led to us learning some pretty amazing connections between our families that move past coincidences.  (Don’t worry, this isn’t a sad post…stay with me!)

Driving to my grandmother’s viewing at the funeral home, my husband’s arm suddenly flung out as he pointed to a street we passed just a few blocks before arriving at our destination.  “My Opa and Oma lived down that street,” he casually remarked.  He was talking about his paternal grandparents who emigrated here from Russia by way of Germany in the fifties.

Once at my grandmother’s viewing, we mentioned that his paternal grandparents lived nearby when they were still with us.  That prompted a series of questions for the man that my extended family was still getting know, my then fiancé.  We were all surprised when we realized that my aunt and his father both went to the same high school years ago, right after he came to this country.  The revelations weren’t over as we also realized that our maternal grandparents must have belonged to the same Germans from Russia group.

The coincidences had always made us laugh.  Somehow, even though losing our grandmothers on that same day was sad, we not only felt closer, but also meant to be together.  About nine months later, we were married.  And we like to think our grandmothers are up in heaven chatting it up!

 

This post is inspired by Sarah McCoy's The Baker's Daughter. In a small Texan town, Reba discovers Elsie's German Bakery and falls in love with more than the pastries. Shes drawn to Elsie's life in Germany during the last year of WWII. Join From Left to Write on August 29  as we discuss The Baker's Daughter. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.  Affiliate links are used.