Dear Tim Barron, This is an open letter to thank you for sharing Michael Rodenkirch's letter with the list. Most of us do not have this kind of documentation of the experiences of our emigrant families, yet I feel that Michael's letter could have been written by any of them. His story is the story of the vast majority of those who ventured to North America and Canada in search of a better life for their families. That is probably the reason that it is touching so many on the list. Thank you again for sharing Michael's letter will all of us! Thanks too, to Werner Lichter for his help with our research! If he hadn't posted in reply to your posting Michael's letter, I might have missed it all together!! Patt Gaetani