Old Dutch variations on my and my sisters names.

annielauhi:

Death Cab For Cutie- I Will Follow You Into The Dark

misssnippah:

amateurgenealogist:

Going through the given names that start with ‘T’ on my paternal grandmother’s family tree

Thomas seems out of place, it seems the name Tjapke, variations of which had been the given name for that particular family (Broekema) for at least four generations, was transformed (translated perhaps?) to Thomas when he (my great-great grandfather) was born in (or near) Sappemeer in 1860.

Going through the given names that start with ‘T’ on my paternal grandmother’s family tree

misssnippah:

Summer evenings on the balcony, Montreal 1963 (Taken with instagram)

janesdreams:

misssnippah:

Every picture has a story, Montreal 1958 (Taken with instagram)

In there first year of living in Canada, my grandparents could not afford both a stove/oven and a fridge and had to choose. They opted for the fridge because of the milk and formula for my newborn aunt. Sometimes my Dad makes fun of the things his mom used to cook in his youth. I bet he doesn’t remember the year his mom managed to cook for the entire family off of a hotplate.

misssnippah:

Snippes family photo, December 1957 (Taken with instagram)

A few months after moving to Montreal my grandmother had my aunt. She didn’t tell any of her family in the Netherlands that she was pregnant because of how sick she was when she had my Dad, she feared they would never abide by her uprooting and moving to Canada. Although most of the post-war Dutch immigrants came to Canada by boat (as both my grandparents on my mother’s side did), my Opa had been scouted by a company (Air Liquide) in Montreal that covered all the moving expenses for their family, including airfare. Luckily for my Oma, at about 5 months pregnant, the 7 day sea-voyage (without personal cabins) would have been uncomfortable to say the least.

Also, I love the composition of this shot, everyone looking at the tiny, sparkling little baby, my Dad, playing with his mum’s hands, looking at his parents, his expression somewhat worried. And I love my second cousin’s teddy bear.

I tell stories about the pictures I’m posting

misssnippah:

Great-grandparents (Knol) in their garden in Limburg (Taken with instagram)

The Knol’s owned and ran a peat mining field but after 9 generations it was exhausted and shortly after my grandmother was born my great-grandfather, Harm, was forced to move to a more fruitful field in Germany. As Hitler ascended to power, Harm moved the family back to the Netherlands in ‘32, but this time to the most southerly region of Limburg. In their retirement, they returned to their horticultural roots with an immense and carefully planned garden filling the backyard of their home.

misssnippah:

Christmas, Montreal 1963 (Taken with instagram)

with Oma’s sister Mimi, and her family (her husband, Bill, behind the camera).