A book you wouldn't know if you weren't reading this

You’ve read family histories. Pretty dry, right?

Not Leslie Huber’s The Journey Takers.

A friend of Leslie, who had read an early draft, handed the manuscript back and asked, “Who am I supposed to be cheering for?”

Georg and Mina Albrecht, Leslie’s Germany ancestors who made the journey to America? Karsti Nilsdotter, Leslie’s great-great-great-great grandmother who came here from Sweden? Or Karsti’s future husband, Edmond Harris, who traveled here from England by way of Australia?

Leslie thought about that for a while and concluded, while Georg, Mina, Karsti, and Edmond were the journey takers, this really was her book, her story of discovery of self as she trekked to distant parts of the world to learn who her ancestors were, what their lives were like, and what prodded them to leave behind everything they knew, everything familiar, everything they loved to come here to a country where they knew no one.

To illustrate, in chapter 3, Leslie has been researching Georg Albrecht’s parents. She learns how many children die young in Germany of that time – 3 in 10 don’t make it to their first birthday.

Writes Leslie, “‘The Lord gave and the Lord hath taketh away,’ they [Georg and Mina] reminded each other when they lost a baby. Small, innocent children, having so little of this sinful world on them, were certain to return to heaven, they believed. And wasn’t heaven a paradise where they could live with God, a much better place for a child than this wretched world of sorrow and suffering? Their faith gave them hope that despite the injustices and heartbreaks of life now, something greater awaited them.”

In the next section of the chapter, the story comes back to Leslie. After she has learned how difficult it was for children in the time of her ancestors’ families, she gets word from the doctor that she’s pregnant – her first child. In world time, this is 150 years later.

She writes:

For the next two weeks, I attempt to work two jobs full time since I’ve started my new job but haven’t quite finished my old one. David [Leslie’s husband] has gone to Belgium for ten days to present a paper at a conference. For the first nine of those days, I hardly notice he’s gone since I spend every waking hour working. But the day before he comes back, that changes. I have some news to share with him – news that makes it difficult to concentrate on anything else.

As I wait at the airport to pick him up, I think of creative ways to make my announcement. I watch impatiently as his plane pulls up to the gate, my heart beating faster. At last, the doors open and passengers file out into the terminal. Towards the end of the line, David appears, his feet dragging and his eyes glazed. I run up and hug him.

“How was your trip?” I ask absently, my mind on my news.

“I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours. I’m wiped out.”

I don’t even hear him. “Guess what?” I say, completely forgetting my elaborate announcement plan. “We’re going to have a baby.”

He stares at me blankly. I wait, ready for an enthusiastic reaction.

“Oh,” he says after a moment, his voice still dull. “That’s nice.”

I stare at him, stunned.

“That’s nice!” I repeat. “That’s all you have to say. Our entire lives are about to change and you say, ‘that’s nice?’!”

“I mean, that’s great,” he tries again, summoning a little more animation in his voice.

“That’s great?” I narrow my eyes at him before turning to walk towards the baggage claim.

He hurries after me. “Leslie, I’m just really tired,” he says when he catches up.

I stop walking and look at him.

“I’m excited,” he says in a less-than-excited-sounding voice.

I raise my eyebrows.

“I am.”

As we pick up his bags and load them in the car, David continues to profess how thrilled he is. Still, after about ten minutes in the car, he’s sound asleep. I turn and glare at him every couple of minutes, but soon find I get little satisfaction out of being irritated at someone who’s sleeping.


Leslie and her husband now have four children, all healthy, all growing like weeds, not one death – something Leslie’s ancestors, The Journey Takers, could only wish for.

Tomorrow: William Faulkner speaks

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