BRAVE FACE

The inspiring WWII Memoir of a Dutch/German Child

After the Vaccine, I am Reborn

It has now been two weeks since my second COVID-19 vaccination. The snow is gone. I feel like I’m in a dream. Today I went to a grocery store. It was full of people, all happy to be out. Everybody greeted everybody. Many people had a short conversation with laughs and...

My Life Through the Decades

In just over a month, I will celebrate by 86th birthday. I was born on the shores of the North Sea. The sound of the waves was my lullaby, the watchtower in the harbor kept watch over me. I had a few years of innocence, but the end of my first decade found me cold and...

Speculaasjes

I love speculaasjes–Dutch windmill spice cookies. But, did you know the origin of the word? Speculaas comes from the Latin word, speculum (yuck), which means mirror. The wooden plank that one makes speculaasjes with gives a mirror image of cut-out inside.  So,...

Pea Soup

I just had pea soup for lunch. It reminded me of our cruise to Alaska which Frits absolutely loved. The ship was parked as far Norther as our cruise went. We stood in a large bay, closed in by an enormous blue iceberg. We were there a long time, probably several...

The Doctor was Amazed

Many years ago, my eldest sister, Corrie, told me that she’d been to hear Dr. L.F.C. Mees speak. He was our family physician for most of our growing-up years, as well as a family friend. After the lecture, Corrie went forward to speak with him and he reacted in...

The Dutch Art of Doing Nothing

The art of doing nothing, as modeled by the Dutch, has become something of an internet sensation. But, long before it did, it was a serious subject of conversation between my sisters and me. Not just a passing one either. I can still hear my eldest sister say, “Dat...

My Beloved Husband

On October 18, 2017, Frits sailed away and arrived on the other side. I don’t know if they celebrate in Heaven, but I expect that they do. In other words, there is a pretty big party going on there today. Here, we celebrate, too. That he arrived safely in Heaven...

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 Grandfather and Meta’s Pappa

My Opa, Cornelius Antonius Bisschop, was born in 1903 in The Netherlands. He wasn’t expected to survive–most of his siblings didn’t, but, despite being very premature and getting meningitis, he both survived and thrived. When Opa was only...