Because the country is under sea level there are many canals that run through it. One of the canals was right in front of our house, just over the road. Small bridges were beautifully built to walk over. They would be manually raised in the middle so all the boats could pass through. People would ice skate all over those canals in the winter. Dutch lace curtains hung on all the windows, with little flower pots on the sills. Grandma and Grandpa living just down the street along with life long friends and neighbors. The Dutch Bakery with it's unique pastries, and the little store where we would buy all our favorite dutch licorice, peppermints and spritz cookie and anything with almond in it. The orchestra who would come out into the street to play on occasion. The street sweepers (men lined up side by side with large brooms) all in a row who routinely kept the streets clean. The beautiful sailboats and schooners, that would come down the canal and wait for the bridge to open and let them by. One of the schooners was owned by my grandpa and my handsome dad and his brother would help him work on it. They would go out to the North Sea and fish but it was mostly used as a means to deliver goods to the villages. During World War 11 they used it to smuggle goods to people up and down the coastline. Our giant church sat proudly at the end of the road and much of our lives were centered around it. We stood there on that road with all our suitcases saying goodbye to everyone and everything we knew and held dear............
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The first big journey, hopes dashed:
I was born in 1951, WW11 was over in 1945, Nazi Germany had successfully destroyed or stolen the lively hood of the Dutch Citizens. Everything that was useful to the Dutch was taken to support the war effort of the Nazi Regime . My father struggled to find work to feed his family of a wife and 4 children. There seemed to be no hope or future for many of the dutch citizens. The government sympathized with it's people and did what they could. They offered a chance to start over in the United States. They offered free tickets to the people, a chance to bring their best belongings with them, and a little money to begin over. Each had to have a sponsor, and had to find their own work when they got to the promise land of the U.S.A. Off we went on the ship, right into a hurricane, which we did manage to get through. I heard many stories of how sea-sick everyone was. Off to Hobokin N.J. to my Uncle, Aunt and cousins who were already in the U.S. and had begun a farm. They would meet us at the ship.