Highlighting history through storytelling

Amanda Johnson of Marion knows the power of the pen to bridge cultures and hearts. And create a family.

Her grandma, Lydia Marie Hammer in Germany, and her great-grandma, Anna Kann in Guttenberg, became pen pals after World War II, all because Lydia Marie “chose fashion over function,” Johnson said.

German heritage runs deep in Johnson’s family. Anna Kann’s family emigrated from Germany, as did her in-laws, who were tired of having French soldiers raid their farm for horses during World War I.

Anna and Gregor married and farmed near Guttenberg, where they raised six children. That’s where Johnson’s journey through her family tree began spinning into her new children’s book, “It’s a Wonderful Story (Eine Wunderbare Geschichte).”

A teacher and philanthropist, Anna Kann “loved to do things for other people, help other people out in need,” Johnson said. “She often sewed blankets, donated clothes.

“When she would donate clothes, this is the best part: In the pocket, she would pin her address in some of the clothing or coats, and a lot of this went overseas.”

Eventually, a blue suit jacket and skirt ended up with donations at a church in Berlin. Lydia’s mother sent her there to find warm winter coats her herself and younger sister Dagmar, 13. But the suit caught Lydia’s eye instead.

“I had never seen anything like it,” she said.

At that point, Lydia, 22, had been working as a gardener to help support her family, and would never buy such a beautiful suit. But so many of the other donated garments were too big or too small, and this suit “was just right,” and it was free.

“It was like a fairy tale and I was Cinderella,” she said. “The only thing missing was my prince.”

Lydia would meet her prince, through the address pinned inside the suit. She sent a Christmas card to Anna, dated Dec. 16, 1951, thanking her for the suit, and the two quickly became pen pals.

In Guttenberg, Virgil “Bud” Kann grew curious about this young German girl corresponding with his mother, Anna. So he started writing her, too, in March 1952 — 70 years ago this month.

Language wasn’t a barrier, since Lydia began learning English in grade school, and loved it. “She was very smart,” Johnson said.

They fell in love, and the following year, he traveled to Berlin for a month, to meet Lydia and her parents, and convince her banker father that an Iowa farmer would be able to take care of his daughter.

The day he arrived, and the first time they met and heard each other’s voices was on her birthday, Aug. 14, 1953. They became engaged on his mother’s birthday, Aug. 21, and married on Dagmar’s birthday, Sept. 9, 1953, at the family’s church in Berlin. In attendance was the woman who had told Lydia’s mother about the donated clothing and urged her to send the girls right away, before everything had been snatched up.

“When my mom asked her what her dad thought, Lydia responded, ‘He knew I would have a better life, so he let me go.’ Her father liked him right away. He wouldn’t let his daughter go until he met him first, which is why Grandpa took all that time off to go overseas to date her,” Johnson said.

The couple moved to Solana Beach in the San Diego, Calif., area the year Johnson, now 38, was born. When she was 6, her family traveled there to celebrate her grandmother’s 60th birthday.

Johnson knew her oma (German for “grandmother”) spoke with an accent, and used German words for counting and singing “Happy Birthday,” but even though her mother told her that Oma Lydia grew up in Germany, that “really didn’t click” with Johnson at such a young age.

“We were all sitting around the table and my grandma told the story of how they met and I was taken aback,” Johnson said. ”Like, I can't believe that's like the reason why we're here today. …

“I just remember how magical that story seemed to me — like a fairy tale. Over the years, you would hear it over and over again, and it just it never lost its luster. It just sparked wonder every time.”

When Johnson decided to write about her oma’s “wonderful story,” she went to the care center where Lydia now lives, and taped her telling the story once again.

Time was of the essence, since her oma, now 92, has dementia, and Johnson wanted her to see the book while she could still remember and enjoy it.

The internet and social media helped Johnson connect with her cousin, Swen, in Germany, who supplied her with photos from his mother, Dagmar, Johnson’s great-aunt.

“It was fun working with him,” Johnson said. “It's just so great to have that access through email and WhatsApp and Facebook and being able to share pictures and history like that, we're just so lucky. I don't think we realize how lucky we are to have such access.”

Johnson hopes her daughters, Joslin, 7, and Maisy, 4, will become pen pals with Swen’s younger two daughters, who are about the same age.

That’s not all. Through her book, Johnson is on a quest to encourage children to write to relatives of any age. She tucked letter-writing instructions in the back of her book, along with one of Joslin’s drawings, to show just how easy it is to make connections.

Seeing how much her own mother learned about their family history opened that window for Johnson, who hopes to give classroom presentations, too.

“I want to have parents and families connect through storytelling and share their story, write their story,” she said. “Diving into this book, I learned so much about my family that I never would have. And so this is what I want families to do. I want to help families reconnect with the past, whether good or bad, and keep that bond alive through storytelling.

“That is my mission.”

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