Category: Herman de Jong
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~ Chapter Five
Read More: ~ Chapter FiveIn Simcoe, Ontario, I stayed with a cousin I hadn’t seen in forty years. That was possible because all the children had left and there were plenty of beds to sleep on and I only needed one.
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~ Chapter Four
Read More: ~ Chapter FourCanada has made an amazing impression on me. This nation with its big lakes, big forests and high mountains is a very impressive country for someone coming from the flat Netherlands. I don’t think it’s pleasant living in mountains. You cannot cycle there, unless you already have a bike with thirty gears.
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~ Chapter Three
Read More: ~ Chapter ThreeSometimes I got the feeling that I fitted in better in Canada than in the Netherlands. There I was the centre of attention, and here I am just an old man who is often overlooked. This is also down to myself,
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~ Chapter Two
Read More: ~ Chapter TwoSunday morning, six o’clock…. As usual, I woke up early this morning too in the beautiful camper van that Pieter had rented for the holiday. I must have slept very deeply because I hadn’t even heard Maaike’s snoring and Gerrit’s squeaking.
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~ Chapter One
Read More: ~ Chapter OneI set out to write about my experiences in Canada. I spent some time there, for four weeks. The second week of my stay, my son-in-law Pieter had a holiday and so we went out in a large camping trailer. Just about the whole family could sleep in it. You don’t see such beasts in…
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~ Postscript
Read More: ~ PostscriptOpa died two years later and Maaike found a notebook among his many books in which he had written down his experiences in Canada. He wrote with trembling hands, but remarkably well. It is up to YOU to discover whether his vision of Canada and especially the Dutch-Canadian community is the right one.
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~ Camping With Opa
Read More: ~ Camping With Opa“Did you want to stay home another day, Dad, before we go camping?” asked Maaike Friday morning. “Well child,” said Opa glumly, “the weather is lovely now and I’m feeling fine again. I’d say let’s go ahead!”
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~ Thursday
Read More: ~ ThursdaySo, Opa returned home on Thursday morning, after saying a heartfelt goodbye to the nurses. “You are all darlings,” Opa said with emotion.
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~ Wednesday
Read More: ~ WednesdayBy nine o’clock the phone was ringing and Maaike jumped on it, “Yes, missus Buma here?” Doctor de Vries said they had examined Opa and, apart from the inflammation, there was nothing wrong
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~ Tuesday
Read More: ~ TuesdayTuesday morning, eleven o’clock. Maaike had already hurried up the stairs several times, as Dad kept to his bed. She had left his bedroom door open so she could see him from the landing. She had even cautiously gone further into the bedroom a few times, to make sure Dad was still breathing.