BRAVE FACE

The inspiring WWII Memoir of a Dutch/German Child

Hope in the Midst of Trouble

I am getting more and more restless. And yet, I find I have less energy. Our problems have been going on for about 9 months, with only more trouble in sight. It has been far too long.  My fellow Americans and I are basically struggling with three problems: Covid-19,...

My Mother-in-Law!

My husband’s mother August 23 was the birthday of my mother-in-law, Marie Johanna, called Rita. To me she was ‘mother’. I met her when I was 17 and she was 43 years old. She lived to be 82 and as her whole generation, she had to cope with two world...

My German Mother

On August 21 in 1907, my mother, Auguste Weidmann, was born in Bottrop in Westphalen. She was the youngest of five sisters: Anna, Ciska, Paula, Agnes and my mom Auguste. The name suited her well. There were also at least five brothers that I know of. I have known only...

Liberation Day

In 2017, I wrote this: May 5, 1945. I was 10 years old.  Liberation day!  Finally it had come and not a day too soon.  We really could not believe it finally happened.  But then our Canadian liberators drove through our streets.  Tank after tank after tank.  Everybody...

Time: Is That What Connects Us?

Many years ago, someone phoned me to ask about my leg. They lived 3000 miles from me. How did they know that I had trouble with my leg?  When I was a teenager, suddenly, without apparent reason, I felt very physically ill, unable to say what was the matter. I felt as...