Tag: organ
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Welcome to Middledom
Read More: Welcome to MiddledomI’ve committed to buckling down for a while to translate and reissue the collected works of Herman de Jong in an accessible format and adding in what family histories I have.
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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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Bach, boat, Canada, church, college, Cornelis, family, Gouda, Groningen, marriage, organ, Pieter, Rotterdam, school, ship
The Slingerland Line
Read More: The Slingerland LineThe first Slingerland we know of is a certain Aart Slingerland who came to Berkenwoude and started farming in Westeinde 11, the farm where my mother was born. (Later another family history traced the line back to Teunis Slingerland, baptized November 16, 1653). We don’t know when he came but we know that he was…
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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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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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Pedagogy
Read More: PedagogySchools during my childhood were places where quietness in classrooms, disciplined order, and endless drilling were paramount. When you didn’t hold a pen in your hand, your arms were crossed across your chest. To make an impression on a teacher, you sat up as straight as possible, crossed your arms as high as you possibly…
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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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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