The family of Jeanne (Barbaras) Kunnemann is apparently the last remaining Barbaras family in Ostheim. For an American like me, this continuous habitation of one small village by one family, for most of 400 years, and possibly beyond, is simply stunning. Jeanne and her husband, Hermann, have two sons, Pierre and Michel. Michel and his wife, Maryline Labranche have just had their first child, Emilie, and have purchased the house owned by their grandparents, Charles Barbaras et Salomé Heim.

My great-grandfather, David Barbaras, and Jeanne's great-grandfather, Jean Barbaras, were brothers. When Sally and I visited the family in 1995, we were struck by the resemblance between her son Pierre and me.