On May 21, 1994, Dina Beekhuis (van der Laan) told her daughter Stiny the following, while remembering the happenings of long ago: Siepko, who died at age nine, was not “normal”.

He would often beat his head against the end of the bed. His mother used to worry about him a lot — what would become of him when she was no longer there. She was thankful that he died before she did. Dina’s mother, Stientje, married to Hendrik Beekhuis often talked about these things to her children.

Another happening that Dina remembered vividly: One day, when Dina and her little brothers were sitting on the front step, a young boy (~16) walked up the lane with a little suitcase; he looked at us but said nothing then went to the backdoor and went inside. We were very curious. We didn’t know him, so we went inside too, and there he sat at the table, eating. Our mother was very, very glad to see her young brother, Jan. [a seventeen year age difference]

He was now also getting ready to leave for America and came to spend some weeks with us before he left. We had a great time with him. He played with us all the time and we just loved him. I can still see him and how glad my mother was to see him so unexpectedly.