点评:My husband, Lee, and I had the extreme privilege of spending 8 days with Erwin in September of 2024. We have had the fortune of traveling the world, but this trip will hold a special place in our hearts for the remainder of our lives. Lee's ancestors emigrated from Switzerland in the 1880's and it has been a life-long dream for him to visit his homeland.
When Lee emailed Erwin in February, he indicated he would like to "walk in the footsteps of his ancestors." Not only were we able to accomplish that, but we also were able to walk in the house of his great great great grandfather from his fraternal side and the house of his great grandmother from his maternal side. It was a very emotional experience for both of us. Erwin did a tremendous amount of "legwork" ahead of time and organized many activities that were executed flawlessly. We also met a number of distant relatives, all of whom were so welcoming to us.
When we started communicating with Erwin, we felt very much at ease with him. He was very responsive to our e-mails and we also had several video calls with him. He had many surprises for us over the 8 days, and he had one final surprise for us on the last day. As it turns out, Erwin is related to us through his father's side of the family! Imagine...we googled a genealogy guide in Switzerland, and we ended up hiring a relative. You can't make this stuff up! And we are pleased to say we will consider him our dear friend forever.
We give Erwin a "big thumbs up!"
Janet Kernen
翻译:2024 年 9 月,我和丈夫 Lee 有幸与 Erwin 一起度过了 8 天。我们有幸周游世界,但这次旅行将在我们余生中占据特殊的位置。Lee 的祖先于 19 世纪 80 年代从瑞士移民,回到祖国是他一生的梦想。
当 Lee 在二月份给 Erwin 发电子邮件时,他表示他想“追随祖先的脚步”。我们不仅实现了这个梦想,还走进了他兄弟一方的曾曾曾祖父的家和他母亲一方的曾祖母的家。这对我们俩来说都是一次非常感人的经历。Erwin 提前做了大量的“准备工作”,组织了许多活动,并完美地执行了这些活动。我们还见到了一些远房亲戚,他们都对我们非常热情。
当我们开始与 Erwin 交流时,我们感到非常自在。他对我们的电子邮件反应非常迅速,我们还和他进行了几次视频通话。在这 8 天里,他给我们带来了许多惊喜,最后一天,他给了我们最后一个惊喜。原来,Erwin 和我们有他父亲那边的亲戚关系!想象一下……我们在谷歌上搜索了瑞士的家谱指南,最后雇了一位亲戚。你编不出这种东西!我们很高兴地说,我们会永远把他当作我们亲爱的朋友。
我们给 Erwin 一个“大拇指”!
Janet Kernen