Serbia

It was an especially moving experience, because as we prepared to leave, an older man walked out of the church carrying an accordion, just like the one Great Grandpa Hebrink had.

Another day we walked to the old church at the bottom of the hill by our house.  We told Carla and Nathan about the Serbian Orthodox tradition of candle-lighting in memory, so all the kids took a quiet time to think about the family members we had lost during the year.

His mother’s house, the Ljubica mansion, had been one of our stops the day before.  They were both constructed in the early 1800’s with tremendous Turkish influence.  The walls were surrounded by divans and there were tea tables and colorful carpets everywhere.  The wood was dark and the walls washed white.