On Friday, I was working in the shop when a man walked
in. He was visiting the States from Australia and introduced himself as Rex
Mickan. As it turns out, he was tracking down Mickans in Texas and had
researched Walburg and Mickan Motor Company online. We chatted about the
Wendish migration to Texas and he showed me the homeland of the Mickans on a
map of Germany.
Rex is a retired pastor for a Lutheran church. On the
other side of the world, the Mickans are not only part of a Lutheran church, but
deeply involved, much like my own Mickan grandparents. The Lutheran legacy lives
on through the generations and across oceans. Like my grandpa, he has a deep appreciation
of pipe organs and showed me a picture of the organ installed in his church in
Australia.
Unfortunately, my grandparents were in California
watching my cousin Morgan play baseball so they didn’t get the chance to meet
Rex who, ironically, was on his way to California on Monday to visit his
family. Luckily, we exchanged e-mail addresses so more Mickans can keep in
touch.
