Memories to Treasure

We had an interesting weekend with company that stretched into Monday afternoon. My brother Merle and his family came from Canada, arriving about 10:30 Saturday evening and were here overnight. On Sunday morning he preached at our church.
Other visitors at church were my sisters, Betty Ann and Carol, who brought with them four friends from Switzerland. They were Mr. & Mrs. Paul Wittwer, their son Hannes, and Susan who is the sister of Mrs. Wittwer. (Susan is missing from this picture but is in the back row on the next one.)

We met the Wittwers in 1997 when we were in Switzerland. They lived at Steinburg which was the property where several generations of our Burkholder ancestors lived in the 1600s and until it was confiscated from them in the early 1700s because they were Anabaptists. From there the Burkholders moved to the Jura Mountains and then immigrated to PA in 1754. We found Steinburg in 1997 and then knocked on the Wittwer's door to ask what they could tell us about the property. We were total strangers to each other but quickly found we were simply friends that had never met before. They were very friendly and accommodating.

Betty Ann & Marvin took another group over in 1999 and spent time with the Wittwers again. When we learned they were coming here to visit, we invited all the people who had been in both groups to come here for lunch on Sunday. What was even more amazing was the fact that Merle and Edith were planning to be here the same Sunday. I was glad every one of our 1997 family tour group was here.

After the photo session the Wittwers said they would like us to sing together. So we sat on our patio and sang familiar songs by memory. We sang the same songs but they sang in German and we in English. We were an international group from three countries, but the faith we have in common binds us together in heart and soul. A foretaste of heaven! "Every nation and kindred and people and tribe . . . "

Merle had three meetings crammed into today. He left the house at 5:30 this morning for the first one and got back around 4 p.m. They left as soon afterward as they could because they have a six-hour drive to northwestern PA where they must be by bedtime. We looked forward to this weekend a long time and now have the memories to treasure.