The Family Tree

Before we made it to our final destination of Amsterdam my mom wanted to make a stop in a sleepy little town near Bremen where her great-grandparents were born. My mom and dad had driven close to 700 miles on this day so they were pretty exhausted by the time we arrived in Rethorn. Yet, my mother was extremely excited to trace her roots back a few generations to see where her family came from. She had brought a picture of a painting which had been hanging on the picture wall in her parents home for her entire life. It was a painting of an old, rustic, thatched rooftop home in rural Germany. My mother spent a lot of time trying to find this particular home when we arrived in the small village/town of Rethorn, Germany. The only problem was that Danny and I had just played in two games and had not eaten since breakfast at 7a.m. Still all three of the boys were very patient and we let my mom wander around the town as much as she wanted. It was very cool to see her in this atmosphere. She was so curious and excited to see this place and everywhere you looked you could see the thatched roofs of the old homes in this community. I teased her as I said at every passing home, "Look Mom, there it is!!!" She smiled and called me a smart-ass, which I was. Still, we had a great time walking around Rethorn and although we could not find the exact location of her relatives, I am sure they were with my mother in spirit. Once we left Rethorn we started to make our way to Amsterdam, a place none of had been, but have heard so much about. Danny and I were really excited because it would be the first time we left Duetchland in over 3 months. We were in some need of a different culture, and we were assured to find it in Amsterdam.