Our visit with Helen and Aage

Cheryl, Mom and I just returned from a delightful visit with Helen and Aage Munk in Horsens, Denmark. Helen Munk and our Grandma Schultz share the same father, Christian Knudsen, who was a prominent blacksmith and dentist in Tillitse, a small town in the island of Lolland, Denmark, a rich agricultural area known for its production of sugar beats.

The visit was especially moving when Aage produced photographs of his visit with Grandpa Hansen, Herbert, Marge, Richard, Karen, Cheryl, a squiggling baby Steve, and my mom and and dad fifty years ago. He also showed us a photo of Grandma Schultz, which mom had never seen before, and a long letter from Aunt Marge. Apparently Helen Munk's mother Emilie (spelling), who is Grandma Schultz's half sister, was committed to keeping contact with her American relations and wrote to Grandma Schultz regularly. Grandpa was likewise committed to maintaining the Danish-American connection--visiting and hosting the Munks over the years.

What I found fascinating was learning more about Grandma Schultz. I didn't realize that her mother died on giving birth to her, an event which may have prompted Karen Marie and her siblings to immigrate to an area in the U.S., Iowa, not unlike Lolland. Christian Knudsen remarried and one of his subsequent children was Helen Munk's mother.