Tag: marriage
-
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…
-
Cheese Making
Read More: Cheese MakingAs I mentioned before we were a large family. When the war broke out, I was just 12 years old and there were 12 children already in our family. I believe the marriage was good, and as children we could get along quite well, apart from some minor rivalry that typically happens among children. Looking…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Aylmer, Bach, blessed, Canada, church, college, family, London, marriage, music, politics, religion, school, ship, Toronto, university, Winschoten
Immigrants – The First Two Years
Read More: Immigrants – The First Two YearsThe train ride to Toronto was a two-day affair, at first interesting, then tedious, as we had little priority and were sidetracked for scheduled passenger- and freight trains many times. We did get a feeling for Canada’s extent and for the distance we were putting between us and Holland, between me and my girl. In…
-
Marriage
Read More: MarriageWe were married on March 21st, 1934. All was ready, the beautiful new house for mother and the girls in the village. I had cleaned our house with Tiet’s help — put everything in place. It was a large house, the largest in the row of farms. The windows were very high and it took…
-
Family Life
Read More: Family LifeGenerally speaking, we were all healthy children. Sometimes we were in each other’s hair but we never had big fights. We never went out much. Martje often came to our house when I was home for a weekend. Later she said: I really loved that. She stayed with the school principal, so she lived close…
-
Settling In
Read More: Settling InAnd so, our marriage started, very simple and peaceful. Harm was busy in the fields and in the stables. We had seven cows and two horses, a few hundred chickens and a stable full of pigs. First, I had many things to do in the house, like painting and wallpapering. The house had become somewhat…
-
School Years
Read More: School YearsExcerpt: We had a school choir led by Master Redeker, who had a wooden leg. Well, what singing we had! Then, when it went very well, the master would take off his leg and conduct with it.