The Adventure Begins

Late in June 2009, my then 85-year-old cousin sent us an email asking if we'd be interested in visiting the Czech Republic, our mutual ancestral homeland, for a couple of weeks. George Matas had visited several times, including one stay of a full year. I'd been there once, in 2001, for three weeks. My husband, Lloyd Bennett, had never been there.

Lloyd and I said yes almost immediately. I'd been to the ancestral villages, but without an interpreter, where I couldn't do much more than take photos of what I thought were the ancestral homes. I'd wanted to go back with an interpreter. I didn't think there were any relatives there but thought perhaps someone might recall the family. We made arrangements, including contacting a genealogist/interpreter who could accompany us to the ancestral villages, and a little over a month later we landed in Prague.

Blogs are usually done chronologically, but this one is more of a memoir. Armed with a lot of photos and even more wonderful memories, I'll share our adventure with you.

Katherine Frances "Kathie" Krejsa Bennett