I went to Melbourne for one day to meet Julia Thiele, the cousin I'd found through DNA testing. In spite of the concern of her friends who thought I might turn out to be a crazy American stalker, she and her husband graciously offered to pick me up at the airport and entertain me for the day. We went north to the Yarra Valley for lunch, where the landscape looks like Napa Valley - eucalyptus trees and vineyards.

Before and after, we shared pictures and stories and sorted out our relationship to each other. Back in 1880 Carl Friedrich Thiele married Lewise Jane Richardson. In 1881, Carl's brother Wilhelm married Lewise's sister Barbara. Carl and Lewise were my great-grandparents; Wilhelm and Barbara were Julia's great-grandparents. That makes us double third cousins.

And Julia was adamant that I look just like a Thiele. I seem to have a choose-your-own-family kinda face.

Lewise (Richardson) Thiele with her two eldest children

Barbara (Richardson) Thiele and Wilhelm Thiele