Tag: family
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Religion and Faith
Read More: Religion and FaithOne can talk about religion in generalities and about churches being staunchly Reformed and very orthodox, but what was my personal experience as a child? I can’t remember that my mother often told Bible stories, but she must have done so. At table Dad read from Anne De Vries’ Bible Story Book and when I…
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Church
Read More: ChurchMy parents went to churches where sermons lasted 1½ hours, but when I grew up they had been shortened to appr. 45 minutes. Sometimes men would suddenly stand up in the middle of a sermon. They began to feel sleepy, and this was the way to stay awake. Other men would enter the church with…
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Organ Playing
Read More: Organ PlayingI have no recollection that I played much with my siblings, Kees, Truus and Sense. I imagine they had their own friends as I had mine. Of course, they were 5 and 4 years older. All of us had organ lessons, but I was the only one who took lessons for over one year. My…
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Elementary School – Final Years
Read More: Elementary School – Final YearsIn 1944 I became twelve years old and almost finished elementary school. In Holland you went to High school after grade 6. There were three types of high schools. The ULO was the easiest, The HBS prepared for university education, especially for engineers and business jobs, while the Gymnasium was the hardest, because you had…
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The War Years
Read More: The War YearsChildren usually are not interested in world politics. When I was 8 years old I didn’t know Hitler was planning to conquer all of Europe. Of course, I had seen pictures of this beastly man, but only thought he was funny with his mustache and straight hair. On May 5, early in the morning our…
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Grades One and Two
Read More: Grades One and TwoSoon I entered grade one. A female teacher — although sometimes other young teachers, who couldn’t find a teaching position because of the Great Depression, would hone their skills on us. I remember especially a jolly young man, Mr. Zoutman. He taught us how to subtract. He would have five red, little balls in his…
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Toddler Years
Read More: Toddler YearsAs a toddler I lived in Vlagtwedde. My wife was also born there! I remember little from that period in my life. Grandfather Blokzyl lived with us after his wife died. This was the time when there were few, if any, old people homes where older people could live in peace. Opa went from family…
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My Mother
Read More: My MotherMy mother, Wine Blokzyl, (short for Hebowina Jantina Klazina) was born and grew up in Ten Boer, in the province of Groningen. She spoke the Groninger dialect, while my father talked Terschellings, a Frisian dialect with remnants of the English language. In 1666 Terschelling was occupied by the English for a short time, and because…
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My Father
Read More: My FatherMy father, Hendrik de Jong, assisted my mother during my birth, something I have been excluded from doing when I became the father of seven children. Since I was the third baby in the de Jong family, my father was by now somewhat used to the hectic activities surrounding a home birth. I’m told that…
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Baby, Toddler, Child
Read More: Baby, Toddler, ChildMy body, which shall return to dust within the next 30 years [Herman returned to dust on twenty-seventh day of July, 2004, after enjoying thirteen years of retirement], was born on the eleventh day of January 1932. More than a body, a living system of flesh, blood and bones, was born. This body had a…