Category: Featured
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The Battery
Read More: The BatteryMy son said bluntly, Can’t you do that yourself? (a teensy-weensy bit belligerent, second generation trademark.)
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On Cats and Dogs
Read More: On Cats and DogsAlmost every Canadian family has a dog or a cat. A quarter of supermarkets is used to display food for those pets. There is a very wide choice of all kinds of brands, because like humans, pets are very picky.
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Arnhem, Bach, Bible, church, Easter, family, God, Groningen, Hommes, marriage, organ, school, ship, Wedderveer, Winschoten
World War II
Read More: World War IIOn the eightieth anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands, Harry van der Laan looks back with the eyes of a child.
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Vennekerk 2023
Read More: Vennekerk 2023This is the story of our van der Laan reunion worship service, the summer of 2023, in the now abandoned Vennekerk, the church where my parents came of age.
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A Good Friday
Read More: A Good FridayGood Friday morning. I climbed the spiraling, creaking stairs to the organ loft, young and inexperienced, I needed to practice for the evening service.
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Another Good Friday
Read More: Another Good FridayHerman de Jong’s prose story of “A Good Friday” has been with me for as long as he’s been gone — twenty-one years now. I wish I had known it before then, just as I wish I could have talked to him about it.
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Reflections of a Grocer
Read More: Reflections of a GrocerShe is small and sturdy. He, tall and lean. Looking at him, you’d know that they are over-65s. They’ve been shopping here for years.
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Burdens
Read More: BurdensThis story, by Herman de Jong, about a social visit and the troubles it deals with is full of humour and grace.
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James de Bree
Read More: James de BreeA Story by Herman de Jong about a McMaster university student finding peace and love on the island of Terschelling — his (and Herman’s) ancestral home.
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The Elephant Beastie
Read More: The Elephant BeastieOn the edge of our bathtub is a little green elephant. It has stood there since the children were small. My wife keeps it there to hide the soap behind it.