...med en liten släktblog. Här kommer inlägg och nyheter från släktföreningen. De senaste rönen från släktforskningsfronten blandas med aktuella händelser. På föreningens hemsida hittar du fylligare information. www.vonarnold.com
En rolig händelse att skriva om är ju den nyligen återupptagna kontakten med våra släktingar i USA; ättlingar efter Boris och Claire von Arnold. Nicholas tog kontakt med oss via hemsidan och en liten brevväxling följde. Här är Nicholas senaste info:
"It was wonderful to hear from you! In addition to knowing other relatives (which my children were extremely excited about), it was great to learn more about the family history. Unfortunately, Boris passed away in 1965, when I was only seven, and Claire suffered from an extended progressive case of Alzheimer's disease, which left us with only s sketch of the background. You were correct - my knowledge of Swedish is nonexistent; my only other fluency is in Spanish, due to schooling and employment.
As you are aware. Boris married Claire and adopted her only natural son, John, who was my father. John married Cecilia Soemer in 1957, and the offspring were myself in 1958 and Elizabeth in 1963, as well as Jeremy who was adopted in 1962. Unfortunately Cecilia passed away in 1971 due to extremely high blood pressure, and John in 1993 (he never remarried; the marriage to Cecilia was extremely dear to him.
Now to present day - I know you spoke to Deborah; we have been separated for four years but remain friends, and she has been very helpful with the grandchildren (more about them later). We had three girls of our own - Amanda Claire, now 21; Rebecca Hope, now 19; and Emily-Anne Faith, now 18. I also have an adopted son Zachariah, who is 12. He has been nothing but a joy to me.
I have two grandchildren as well; Kaylin Elizabeth, now 15 months, and Alexis Rose, born exactly two weeks ago. They have been a true blessing and have reinvigorated my life. I will send a hospital picture of Alexis under different cover.
Elizabeth also has three children of her own - Charles, Andrew, and Cecelia. Although Jeremy has no natural children, he just married a wonderful woman from Latin America who has two sons, Matthew and Sean, whom he plans to adopt.
So, now the family tree is finally filled out. I had taken a wild chance and done a world-wide search on the last name, and was thrilled that you responded. Believe it or not, it has actually changed my perspective on family, to know that you folks are truly there, Until now, you had only been a rarely discussed group of relatives (I don't think that my father John even knew all the details). You can be sure that my children and grandchildren will be be much more aware of their heritage.
Again, thank you for taking the time to respond so extensively, and I do actually intend to make this part of my travels someday. Family has always been extremely importantly to me, especially after losing my mother at such a young age.
With all best wishes, prayers, and thoughts -
Nicholas John (baptized Nikolai Ivanovich) von Arnold"