The nicest cousin I've ever had.

Shortly after retiring in 1998, I wrote letters to the about 200 people with surnames ‘Broede’ in the German telephone directories. In search of my  German roots. My paternal grandfather sneaked into America from Germany around 1900. Yes, he was an illegal immigrant. I knew very little about my grandfather. He died in 1945, when I was 9. Anyway, I got replies from about 30 German Broedes. Thought initially that my grandfather came from Hamburg, the big North German seaport. Turned out that he was from near Homburg, a much smaller city in the south of Germany. His hometown was tiny Kashofen, a farming community. Where several Broedes live now. I’m not related to any of ‘em. But I discovered a dear and now close cousin, Fritz Broede, in Homburg. We’ve visited often, in America and Germany. We stay in close touch. Fritz has also introduced me to other cousins. And he’s taken me to other German towns to visit non-related German Broedes with whom I correspond. Such as Gerhard Broede in Rostock on the Baltic Sea. Gerhard and I were born in the same year, 1935. It’s been a pleasure comparing our life experiences. Fritz and I do much the same. He’s five years younger than me.  We shared the same grandfather five generations ago. In the early 1800s.  Fritz has traced our ancestry back to the 1600s. In Switzerland. And he’s taken me to the same locale where they came from. One of the finest spiritual experiences of my life. And several years ago, when I was to meet my Italian true love face to face for the first time, Fritz drove me to Switzerland and personally put me on the train to Venice. Gotta tell you. Fritz is the nicest cousin I’ve ever had. –Jim Broede