Gr'ma was a PenPal

When I still lived and worked in London, Ontario, I got letters from my Gr'ma Kroeker in imperfect English, but I understood it, and was pleased at her courage, for I could see/hear her Low German accent through it all.

A number of years later, (1985) Gr'ma came to live in my parents' home when I was looking after them. Before she arrived I went to empty her room at the Altenheim in Warman, give notice of her moving out, and asked for her mail. Among her letters I found some in High German, from Mexico. (I had taken German as an alternative to French in high school, but these letters were in the Gothic handwriting, so I had trouble disciphering them.)

Gr'ma was mostly blind now, and my parents had forgotten most of what they knew of the Gothic script. The writer of several of these letters was a Maria Peters, and Gr'ma nodded, "Yes, that could be one of her relatives in Mexico," but she couldn't explain in what way.

I went to visit Gr'ma's youngest sister, Tina Thiessen, at the Rosthern Nursing home. She agreed that they had Uncles and Aunts (if still alive), and cousins in Mexico. But it had always been my Gr'ma who had corresponded with them. If she couldn't tell us about this, I had a puzzle!

Well, eventually, we did figure out the most recent letter or two, and I decided that I would have to make an effort to write this Maria Peters and ask her to explain the relationship from her end. I laboured over my letter for three weeks, then showed it to the elderly Mr. Abram Janzen in church who was known to have his letters published in the Steinbach Post. (The German newspaper used by both Canadian and Mexican Mennonites to keep in touch with each other, or to announce someone's passing). After he had pointed out a few improvements I could make in my letter, I typed it up and including a photo of Gr'ma and myself, I mailed it.

It took several weeks before I got a reply from Maria Peters. Then I learned this story.

When a large number (in thousands!) of Mennonites decided to leave Canada and immigrate to Mexico, some were Gr'ma's Uncles and Aunts from Blumenheim, and of course they took their children with them. One of those was Gr'ma's cousin Maria Friesen (a single woman about Gr'ma's age). They had promised each other they would write letters to each other. This they did faithfully for years.

Cousin Maria never married, but as she got older she went blind and eventually was bedridden. She had a niece, also named Maria Friesen, but who married an Isaac Peters. This younger Maria became her aunt's secretary, reading her cousin Elisabeth Kroeker's letters to her, and then writing her replies to her as from her aunt. Eventually the Aunt Maria died. But the niece, Maria (Friesen) Peters continued to correspond with this Elisazbeth Kroeker whom she had never met or seen.

Maria and her husband had 12 children (par for the Mennonite families in Mexico), the oldest being my age. She had no way of knowing why/how come Elisabeth's letters stopped coming, so my letter was very welcome!

She wrote to me that when she saw the photo of Gr'ma and me, she called her daughters to come see; "Look!" she cried. "Isn't she just like our Tante Maria?!" This was the first time she had any glimpse of the penpal she had back in Saskatchewan, Canada. Apparently then, my Gr'ma and her cousin Maria were look-a-likes!

I had asked Maria if she could provide some list of the relatives in Mexico. She explained that some had moved on to Belize, and some to Paraguay and some to Bolivia even. She would need time to write them ask for all their spouses' and childrens' names. It took nearly 3 months, until I got her letter with many, many names written in boxes, turned this way and that, with not much more info than that, but I added it to the appendix of my book, "A Godly Inheritance."

Some of those relatives have immigrated back to Ontario, Canada, as apparently it is fairly easy for them to get jobs in the factories and canneries in the Leamington, and Thamesville areas. About 20 years ago I had a call (while still in Hague) from Maria Peters herself! She and Isaac had followed some of their children and her husband now had a job in one of those factories.

Some time later she informed me that her granddaughter, Elisabeth Guenther, was a Kindergarten teacher and she wanted to know if I would be her PenPal. This Elisabeth and some of her cousins were traveling across Canada in a van and stopped by to visit me not too long after I moved to this house in Saskatoon. She informed me that her grandparents had got homesick for Mexico and moved back there.

A few weeks ago I had a phone call from Maria (Friesen) Peters's oldest daughter, Maria Guenther from Ontario, to say that their copy of my book, "A Godly Inheritance" is falling apart and has been copied by many relatives. She wondered if I had any copies left to sell. I told her about my newest update as of last winter. Her mother, Maria Peters got dementia in Mexico and died a few years ago. Her daughter Elisabeth Guenther, the Kindergarten teacher, is now a missionary teacher in Belize! She said I would hear soon from a Mrs. Unger, who was the most anxious for my book.

I did hear from Mrs. Unger, and she is sending a money order for me to print and bind a copy for her of my newest edition, as she has no computer or email to receive or read the digital edition.

Oh-oh! I was afraid this would get to be a l-o-n-g story, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I had in experiencing it!

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