#33: I Spend a Week with Strangers in Germany 

In 1890, my great great grandfather immigrated to America. After meeting and marrying my great great grandmother Mary, the two had twelve children and settled in Bremen, IN (a small town about 15 min from me). I currently live in the house of my great grandfather, and my grandma still lives in her and my late grandfather's farmhouse at the end of my road. I grew up on a road that is nearly exclusively inhabited by Laidigs, and every year we all get together for a reunion (which has seen over 300 attendees)! For this reason, my family's heritage has always been special to me.
About a half a year ago, I got in contact with very distant Laidig relatives currently living in Southern Germany, in the same village my great great grandfather John grew up in. (Thanks to Roger D Laidig for making the connection!) The original Laidig home in Berg is still in the family, so I was able to walk through the house John Fredrick was raised in, the church he went to, and even the elementary school he attended. During the week I grew close with the Laidigs. They treated me, well, like family! They made me forget I was living for a week in a foreign country I had never been to with people I had never met before! I felt so at home.