A Sacred Family Story

Penelope Van Princis was a young girl in the 1600's when she left Europe with her new husband and a group of people heading for Gravesend Long Island, which was a dutch settled community called New Amersterdam. Today it is known as Brooklyn New York. They were joining a small group who had already settled in the area, peacefully. The ship they were on possibly the (Kath) had been on the ocean for several months sailing when it steered off course. The ship ran aground in a natural undeveloped wilderness area which is now known as the Atlantic Highlands New Jersey. The Native American people  who settled the area over 10,000 years prior called this land Turtle Island. The ship was wrecked, Penelope, her husband and the crew had no other option but to come ashore. Little did they know there had been much unrest in the area due to the fur trade the Beaver War and the Kieft war. They were no established settlement on this land and they were considered invaders by the Native American people who lived there on Turtle Island. There was a swift attack with great violence and her husband did not survive. She was severely cut, mangled and scalped as she crawled into the hollow of a tree. Penelope was wounded, abandoned and all alone in a new world unbeknownst to her. She had to find strength In order to feel safe and survive the trauma she had experienced. She learned to go within, tap into her inner resources, faith  hope and prayer, she managed to survive.