I had the strangest experience late last week: talking with a total stranger on the phone for 30 minutes – who might be a close relative.
My son Ethan was featured in the local paper. He was at the library during a ‘science’ demonstration, volunteered, and a news photog took a series of snaps that made it into the paper:
That night, we received a call from a Nellie Kocsar, who told us that her maiden name was Koetsier, she emigrated from Holland in the 1960s, and went to the same church that my parents had gone to.
Wow!
We spent thirty minutes talking about villages in Holland where she had grown up, and where my parents had grown up (both my parents emigrated to Canada in the 1950s) … and ancestors that appeared to be common, including a Koetsier who featured prominently in the formation of the Dutch Reformed Church in the 1800s.
Very cool – I’m going to invite Nellie and her husband over to meet my parents. The discussion should be interesting!