“Yesterday, I had another delightful visit with Uncle Harke in Ten Boer! He was as cheerful as ever, sharing tons of stories from the past and repeating some about the present. I brought our dog along, and Harke reminisced about having a dog himself when he was younger. He mentioned that at home, he was the only one who loved dogs!”

Strong man Harke

Harke shared that Grandpa Schoonveld was a big, strong man who could lift 80 kilos with just one pinky finger! (Greetje added that the weight keeps increasing over the years; it used to be 25 kilos!) Harke himself was the strongest among the sons. He mentioned that his oldest brother, Jo—my father—wasn’t strong, according to Harke. Jo had a severe pneumonia in 1938, and it was touch and go as to whether he would pull through. Harke also recounted how, in his younger days, he used to haul around big bales of straw and 50-kilo coal bags!

Harke always refers to John as his oldest brother. I correct him, saying, “Willem is your oldest brother.” But he responds, Yes, I mean the oldest of the second group. WeaHarke often mentions that John was Mom’s favorite, too!

Wearing a girl’s coat

In my school years it was always a mess with our clothes. There was a time when I had to wear one of my sisters’ coats to school. Of course the other kids noticed. It wasn’t nice; they would shout, “he’s wearing a girl’s coat.” Totally normal, I would have done the same. I was ashamed. When I went to school and got away from our house, I would take off my coat. I arrived at school coatless. It didn’t take long before the family noticed at home. Then I’d get punished. That usually meant going to bed without supper. That was one of the worst punishments for me.

Sinterklaas was not a feast

Something happened regularly that warranted punishment. Sinterklaas should be a celebration. For me, it wasn’t a celebration. When I still believed in that man, I always thought, “Why does someone else get such nice gifts and I get an apple with a dime inside?” In hindsight I understand it, but back then I really didn’t.

I once lied that I had received something that wasn’t true. When the teacher asked what we had gotten, I said a metal lunchbox. Of course they realized I had lied. The punishment did not stop. First, punishment rules: write 100 times, “I must not lie to the teacher,” along with the explanation that lying is a sin and that you won’t go to heaven. That was not good! And at home I got punished too. I was done with Sinterklaas; I never wanted him again. A metal lunchbox was a kind of Lego—made of metal—and you could make all kinds of things from it. I would still like to have one now. That punishment is still there, although I don’t lie about it in my head anymore.

Henk en Greetje decided to correct this omission and gave Harke a Meccanodoos after reading this story form Harke