Just a memory to share with you.. Last Christmas we picked up my grandparents to have once again a lovely Christmas Diner with them, for more than 10 years we’re telling eachother.. it just might be the last Christmas that we can share with them 
because they get older and older.. one of the passions of my grandpa (oldest Kaemingk alive as far as we know) was years ago making, and lately only talking about the family-tree that he made.. last year he commented that he is too old to keep up “with all that family-stuff” and I dicided to take it over.. and i use facebook to help me find all of you
… my grandpa was telling years and years stories about uncles that had (he knows all in details) this amount of children and named all the names in order and well.. there came all the time that story about that one uncle he never met, because that uncle went to America before he was born.. another one went too, but that one came back one time.. but Englebert he never met… years ago, he went to Canada, met some Kaemingks there and one of them helped my grandpa to get the american info for the familytree.. Last year septembre thanks to facebook i got some info and arranged a meeting.. not just with me but especially for my grandpa..
because it just might be the last possibility to have this meeting..
1 week after the meeting my grandpa got a call from a friend who received a church (the other passion of my grandpa) newsletter and in that newsletter they mentioned a person with the same last name Kaemingk. the lady asked my grandpa if this was family and he could happily say : “Yes and we met him last week”.. 3 weeks they’ve been enthousiastic.. but grandpa had a surgery to have too in that month.. and although he was cool about it, you never know what happens.. so since then.. i visit them weekly, i did’nt hear nothing about it or any family info anymore.. as if he had let it go.. it was too much for him.. often he is tired.. (happy to still be together with my grandma but sadly she is forgetting a lot and keeps him busy more than he can handle (now that is been taking care of)
but when we picked them up for Christmas Diner.. we took care of grandma.. and Grandpa took the chance to talk all evening and on a certain moment it came on beautyfull memories from that year.. he forgot how it happened but he started to tell us the story that ended with the story of the lady and started with telling my mom:” did you know who we met? were you there with us? I don’t remember good…. my mom reminded him that i was there.. “Oh Yeah he said.. we met a very far cousin.. his name is Matthew he is same age as Judith..one of the great grandchildren of Englebert, the uncle that i never met.. so I kind of met all the ‘family-lines’ now.. so Judith and him are in the same line to my grandfather.. 3rd degree..where she found him i don’t understand but We were so excited!! and he is from the same church!! so Englebert seemed to ended up good there in the States.. than the story of the lady came and they were both so happy, grandma confirmed “yes you spended many many hours, days, months! at the typewriter to make that familytree and now you finally met one Kaemingk of that “lost” uncle of yours.. and my grandpa continued.. “but i forgot where we met, so i reminded him: “at a birthday of another first degree cousin of mine.. because it was like old days.. going unexpected to visit my grandparents, then they were not home.. so we called and we joined you there.. this made it also happen to meet more cousins of mine.. oh yeah, my grandpa followed his story.. that this meeting could happen to us at 94 & 91 years of age.. i never expected it anymore but this was the best experience this year!
written 6 januari 2014
photos of septembre 2013
