Ik kann nie goed Hollandse scriven maar jullie kann hier sein onze mam and pap thuis in the kuiken bej onze grote kachel. Zei denken over verhuisen naa ein ouders woning in het durp van Eganville maar nie dese jaar. Alse zei allebei goed bleijven, willen zei noch eine ander jaar op die boederij wohnen.... alles hier is goed...and onze Martien's vee is weer hier in het veldt. Groeten an allemaal in the familie in Holland van onze allemaal.

A clear November afternoon at Dad's farm. . Our family moved here in 1963...shortly before Martien was born...and shortly before JFK was assassinated...I remember going to visit the Verheyens to watch the funeral on television. Isiah Scully drove us kids here in his half-ton on that moving day...Tommy Dunnigan followed with the cattle truck with our cows bawling on the back and the cats in a burlap sack...the kitchen stove was on the back of Dad's truck and Tony & Esther helped us move. It was an exciting and yet, unnerving day...

Life on the farm seems more normal now that Martien's purebred Charolais are back. A farm without cows is no farm at all!! Dad likes to go out and check on the cattle and Ma said that she knows exactly which cow and calf are in which pen in the barn....and Martien comes to check on his cattle so there's more activity happening around the farm.

Opa and Oma now often talk about the past. Here Dad is recalling how he was able to make one phone call during the three years and four months that he was in Indonesia. He called Riek and they were able to talk for three minutes.

I asked Dad if he has a pension from his years in the Dutch army and he says he doesn't. That doesn't seem very fair...he says it's because the Dutch government wants to ignore the fact that they were suppressing colonial uprisings...probably true.

Oma says that there's nothing to do now. All her life she has worked...cooking, cleaning, gardening, sewing, raising seven children. Now, at 83 years old, she feels tired and doesn't want to work anymore...but what else is there to fill her days. She thinks maybe she and Opa would be fine at Fairfields sometime in the future...they would have a two bedroom apartment and take some of their own furniture. Oma enjoys the idea of being able to go to the dining room and just have some supper without having to cook every evening.

Thursday afternoon in November, visiting Oma and Opa. They're having a discussion about perhaps moving into Fairfields Senior's Home sometime in the future. Not this year, but maybe next winter. Opa says that winter was better when he was still farming....chores to do, wood to bring in, snow to move. Oma agrees. This winter they will have an outdoor furnace if the boys get it installed in time. However, the old kitchen stove will stay where it is...it has been part of the Zomers family for over fifty years.

Hunting dog relaxes

Jo-Jo the hunting dog relaxes in the camp after a hard day chasing deer. Soon it will all be over for another year...the men go back to work...the children go back to school.