Above: Hinrich (right) and cousin Werner Gerdes (left) go over some village records that include our ancestors in Ostfriesland
Below: Elke (right) and Betty (Mark's Mom)

Hinrich and Elke
Sometimes the blog is about friends who need prayers (not always about Mark)
Today Elke wrote to say that Hinrich is fighting for his life. He has bone cancer and is undergoing treatment. I hope all of you who read this blog will say prayers for Hinrich and Elke.
You can read a little about our day with them May 11, 2005 in Emden, Germany and some little Ostfriesland villages by going to the archives May 12, 2005. Ostfriesland is an area in the north of Germany very near the North Sea. Much of the land was reclaimed from the sea. Elke's husband Hinrich is a boat builder in Emden and he is a great genealogist. He helped me immensely with finding some ancestors in Ostfriesland and living cousins there. When Mark was his sickest and we were in Amsterdam, Hinrich and Elke talked Mark and I into riding the train to Groningen and they picked us up there, drove us to Emden, let Mark rest, fed us lunch, spent the day with us at our cousins' house and drove us back to Groningen to catch the train. Even though I was not sure at the time whether Mark would live through the day everyday that we were in Europe and wasn't sure if I would get him back to Bangkok alive, he went and had a memorable time....thanks to Hinrich and Elke.

You can read a little about our day with Elke, Hinrich, and our cousins (Werner Gerdes and his family) May 11, 2005 by going to the archives dated May 12, 2005 (see archives in right hand column).

Note: Mark was diagnosed in Feb. 2005 and given three months or less to live...He was loosing weight rapidly and extremely ill when we started the trip to Europe but he returned looking much better. He looked so bad in pictures taken in Germany that I can't post one of him as he would kill me or at least be mad at me.

At one time early on Mark had bone cancer as well as esophageal cancer with metastasis to the liver. I often fail to mention his bone cancer as it responded early on to treatment. Let's hope and pray that Hinrich's bone cancer responds to treatment and disappears.