Invitation to Participate

The two family trees of the Klopp-Kegler clan are complete. On the Panknin-Reifferscheid side there are still a few important branches missing. We are working hard to fill the gaps. Thank you to you all far and wide for your  enthusiastic assistance in the creation of these trees!

The trees are nice to look at and give us a sense of identity within the bewildering complexity of family relations. But just as the trees, before spring returns after a long winter, the family trees look bare and lifeless.

To add meaning and beauty to the family trees we need to go beyond the mere names attached to the branches. We all have fond memories that are worth reporting and recording on this site. So if we contribute just one interesting story, one exciting episode, or a colorful description of a time and circumstance in someone’s life perhaps supported by a photo, drawing or painting, then certainly the trees would begin to blossom and reveal the rich tapestry of life. Seeing us as an integral part of a network of individual branches will make us aware of our own individual place within the multifaceted context of our families.

The blog “Our Family Tree Project” will serve as the vehicle allowing us to share, collect, organize and publish our thoughts and memories on our family members including ourselves. I suggest that you email me your contributions. I will then post them in the order they arrive. If they are in German, I will first translate them. It would be great, if someone in Germany could create and use a parallel blog site for our German relatives who do not have a good knowledge of the English language.

On my next post I will explain in greater detail how I envision the Family Tree Project to work. In the meantime take some time to reflect.Then leave a comment or send me an email on how to decorate our family trees.

Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2015