1950. After the war Holland had a housing crisis due to bombing as well as the scarcity of building materials and other factors that prevented construction. The problem of keeping up with demand, in fact, was never completely resolved, even until today. You are entered on a list of candidates and you just wait. But in 1950 mom and dad were assigned a house of their own. At last! 5 Bedrooms for a mom and dad and 9 kids.
Also, after the war I had become really interested in playing soccer, which in Europe they call Football, you know the real football. In the beginning dad was not at ease with football on Sunday, so I was not allowed to go to the local matches on Sunday. But I went anyway, just don't tell my dad, eh! I came home one Sunday after spending an afternoon in the soccer stadium, and dad met me by the door, "Where were you all afternoon?" I answered ; "Downtown, looking at girls". He responded: "That is no place for a young man, you should go in for sport, like football!" OK, that is where I was!!
I trained a lot those days and eventually joined a team called Kennemerland with orange shirts and black trunks, which mom volunteered to wash every week. Actually most soccer clubs have more then one team. Beginners, advanced, veterans, different age groups, and the best players for entry in the main team, playing in the main league (which was our ultimate goal). I noticed pretty soon that those kids who were the best, owned their own ball. So I saved my pocket money and finally bought a ball of my own. I literally wore that thing out. On many days I ran and practiced until I fainted. When I was drafted into the army, and they made us run marathons, I had no problem with that. I never won any marathons but I did complete them. I could outrun most of my friends and I did not shy away from little fights. I always say, "I never lost a fight until I got married".
I continued my education by reading a lot by myself. I started with philosophy. Later on I took a course in engineering, which was interrupted by my being drafted into the army. I could no longer afford it. Later on I enrolled in a commercial art course from the university of Leiden. When I immigrated to Canada I took the whole volume of sketches, instructions and work papers to Canada. Unfortunately, it did not survive a certain urge to keep the house nice and tidy. And, getting ahead of myself a little, in Canada I took a credit management course from the university of Toronto, ending up with an MCI designation.
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6 comments:
You threw away your sketch book?? ACK! That would have been so awesome to see!
What did it feel like to be drafted? When did that letter come? What was your reaction?
Well, actually, I threw it away along with all the other stuff and have to this day not heard the end of it.
I realized afterwards what a big mistake I had made as a newlywed. From then on I have been very careful in what I throw out. Until I got a son-in-law who told me, if you have not looked at something for half a year you won't miss it. So now I am back to square one, thanks to him!!
Mom
So, now you will find mom on square one, still riddled with guilt. I have always been perfectly charming about this, realizing that small stuff should not dictate your attitude. Big stuff is important, like "can she cook!!!". True LOVE goes through the stomach, right, every thing else will fail, haha.
Ted
You are absolutely perfectly charming Ted and I just love your sense of humor. Your stories are so interesting , so keep remembering for us.
Evy here; I am the little sister way down the line. I don't remember Kees, but I love all the stories you told. I always remember Theo being the oldest brother. There were so many brothers trying to boss me around and playing soccer with my dolls. I was born after the war, so all I got was stories from the big brothers. If I didn't like to eat my cabage, I was told I should have been in the war, because those big brothers were thankful they had food at all. Some times their stories scared me, but the brothers just joked and made fun of me. Oh well there was a lot of kidding around going on. So....more stories please, I like them.
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