HOST GIFT
The plans for my October trip to Berlin are coming together. Items are being checked off my list and one by one I am "getting there". One item kept spinning in my mind, though, and that was "what do I take to Germany for a host gift"?
When my cousin, Gerhard Kolberg, came to visit us in Michigan in 2000, along with his two adult grandsons, they brought hostess gifts. There are so many wonderful items in Germany that Americans would appreciate but in reverse it is hard to decide just what to take to Gerhard from the US that would be of interest to him.
After much debating I hit upon an idea. I bounced it off my cousin, TK of Before My Time, and she concurred that it would be a wonderful gift to take. My idea for the gift is....
An Ancestry family history book on our Kolberg family!
I am a member of the Ancestry web site, and while I find their membership fees very pricey, there is so much information contained in Ancestry that it is worth the expense. Those of you who also use the Ancestry site will recognize that Ancestry has added a feature that allows a user to create a family history book. I read the instructions and decided to tackle such a project.
This did take an enormous amount of time to create but little by little the book came together. When I finally had a finished product I placed the order with Ancestry and am pleased with the final appearance. Ancestry promises delivery in 2 weeks which will work well into my trip schedule.
I do feel this is a very good host gift in this circumstance and I hope that Gerhard enjoys the book.
Thinking of doing your own family history book? It was fun and a challenge as well as a lot of hard work. I have proofed it so many times that I am dreaming about Kolberg ancestors. But I feel it met my goal which was to find a perfect host gift for Gerhard.
ADDENDUM: For the purposes of this series, I will be using the spelling of the Kolberg surname as either Kolberg or Colberg as appropriate. In my study of churchbooks from the 1800's I have seen the surname spelled either way with no rhyme or reason. For that reason I have decided to use the spelling of Kolberg throughout this series and throughout my entire blog. However, I have learned from Gerhard that his grandfather, Johann Colberg, used the spelling of the surname with the "C" and that many of his descendants followed suit. Gerhard, however, and his father opted for the spelling with the "K" so for the purposes of this series I will try to use the correct spelling as best I can.
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