"Gott sei dank"

It is dark in the morning hours, the light from the Christmas tree sparkles in the cabin windows and the Christmas music is playing. Gypsy, my 10 year old English Pointer hunting dog has finished her morning biscuit hunt. My espresso is half gone as I sit on the sofa in the cabin in the light of the fireplace and the Christmas tree. Gypsy has gone back to sleep on the highway 281 red leather chair she had to have. The hills around the cabin have just begun to appear in the dim morning light. The sun will be rising soon. The hills remind me of others that liked to sit with their morning coffee and wait for the day.
My ancestors who lived in the hills around Schaffhausen, Switzerland liked to linger over their morning coffee, especially the women. So, as I sit here in the Texas Hill County surrounded by hills and I am reminded of the past. Today is alittle different, because I suddenly am aware of others here in the cabin with me. As I look at them I realize they are my ancestors as they were in Switzerland before they made the exciting and dangerous trip to this country. They are laughing and talking as they surround me here in the cabin. Among them is my mother and the many that made up her family. I am content to watch and listen. Their blood runs in my veins and that of my children and I am grateful for that. From our past comes our future. These were people of integrity and industry that taught by precept and example. Life was not easy for them and yet there was a richness to it that seems to have faded from many families with the passage of time.
These emigrants knew nothing of the of the hardships of pioneering in a new land, although they knew enough of the difficulties of the peasant life in the old. They settled in and around Archbold, Ohio earning their way farming the miles and miles of flat land in Northern , Ohio. Their success was not measured by how much money they earned, but by something much more important. They were successful as human beings making agreements with a handshake. Their honesty reflected in their hard working nature was who they were. We were raised and learned from many of these fine people. I only wish I had know them better and learned more. What we pass on is not what we say but, what we do. We must be true to ourselves. We must take the time to know ourselves aside from what the world has dictated we should be.
We must not get lost in our dangerous crossing. Can you hear the music of the hills?
Do you see the darkness come each night and the light come each morning?
The sun is rising through the trees and over the hills. The light is finding its way through the woods on the hills. It is a beautiful morning.
Ihr Berg lebt wohl (You mountains live well)
Das ist aber herlich. (That is just wonderful)
Gott sei dank (God be thanked)