Tag: God
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Bach, blessed, Canada, Christmas, church, Cornelis, Easter, family, God, Gouda, marriage, organ, Pieter, Rotterdam, school, Stolwijk, Toronto
The de Jong Line
Read More: The de Jong LineFamily History section written in 1986 Touch and turn images for a wide screen view Of my father’s relatives I know very little. I have never seen a picture of my grandparents, likely because one was never taken. I know nothing of how my grandfather looked except that he was crippled from birth with one…
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Indonesia: 1947-1949
Read More: Indonesia: 1947-1949Much of what follows is written by Wendy based on memories my sisters and I shared of stories he told us over the years, although there are a few paragraphs that he must have written very early on because they were written in Dutch. When I was 19 years old (1947) I was called up…
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The Dutch Royal Family
Read More: The Dutch Royal FamilyIn 1936 Princess Julianna became engaged to Prince Bernhard and they were married in 1937. Princess Beatrix, who was the queen of Holland when I wrote this was born on January 31, 1938. Prince Irene was born on August 5, 1939. We were very strongly loyalists. We believed the House of Orange was given by…
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Stutenstreek -1876
Read More: Stutenstreek -1876After Albert left the army (1876), he bought a piece of land of 2000 square yards (.4 acres) in what would later be called “The Stutenstreek”. He paid 460 guilders (125 dollars) for the land and a small house was built on it for 200 guilders (80 dollars). Albert and Tietje made a good start…
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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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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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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…
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Aylmer, Canada, church, family, God, Jordan Station, London, music, organ, Sarnia, school, ship, Vennekerk
Occupations
Read More: OccupationsOpa Herman de Jong had the following occupations As you can see: a multi-checkered career. Of course, now these occupations were on a part-time basis, otherwise I would have had to live two lives. And now let’s start at the very beginning… Herman at work
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boat, Canada, Christmas, church, emigration, family, God, organ, Rotterdam, school, ship, Vlagtwedde, Winschoten
The Emigration Leap
Read More: The Emigration LeapMom and Dad involved us older children in the deliberations about the future. We agreed that if we were to emigrate, it would not be Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Brazil; the first two too far from Europe, the latter too different from us. The USA seemed too populous, too mighty and rich for…