Serendipity, good fortune through chance, led Henry Bertram and Catherine O'Connell to Iowa, the heartland of America and a melting pot of immigrants. He was German and Lutheran; she was Irish and Catholic. They met at the dawn of the twentieth century, just as a young and hopeful America was spreading its wings and preparing to fly. This memoir blends muted tones of conversations, genealogy, history, artifacts, and photographs into a colorful and compelling portrait of an ordinary family living in extraordinary times. The narrative is a labor of love, a tribute to those who journeyed before and a gift to generations who follow.