My Mother
My mother's name was Hillegonda Dina Verduyn. She was always a very busy farmer's wife and mother. As I was one of the younger in our family, I have no memories of her as a young mother because she was an Oma a year after I was born. But I know from all the stories I've heard from my father and brothers and sisters that she was relentlessly hardworking. And that is how I remember her as well from my earliest recollection of daily life, her hands were never idle. Her favorite saying was that "idle hands were the devils tools" so I was taught to keep busy at a very young age. Having ten brothers living at home most of the time made for a lot of chores, and it was my job to peel a large bucket of potatoes almost every day. I also learned to iron all the white sunday shirts every week, plus a huge roll of aprons, tea towels, handkerchiefs and what ever else there was to iron. Once a week I had to polish a whole row of sunday shoes as well and then there was the never ending piles of dishwashing and drying. Of course I was stuck in the house with all the mundane boring housework chores while I jealously watched my brothers run outside doing all the "fun" work. I have very vivid memories of my mother using every possible moment to knit a few more stitches, even while my father was leading the family in Bible reading and devotions, which I found very disrespectful.
My mother was a stickler for cleanliness and routine. Every spring the entire house had to be scrubbed top to bottom, inside and out, before May 10 which was my father's birthday. In the fall it all happened again before thanksgiving day.
What I appreciated most about my mother is how determined she was to see that we understood our advantages of having a biblical upbringing and that we learned to live out what we were taught to believe. She was especially firm in teaching us the value of our infant baptism and our covenant privileges.
My mother LOVED doing needlework, and she produced so many pieces of beautiful cross stitch wall hangings and crocheted doilies and tablecloths. She made many articles as gifts for her children and grandchildren, and even more for the yearly sales for missions or school fund raisers. She also knit hundreds of pair of socks, and I don't even know what else. Apparently she did knit and sew a lot of clothes for the oldest of my siblings, but not as much for me anymore. She taught me to knit when I was about 6 years old, and I hated it back then, but she was very persistent and she had me sit down to knit 10 rows each evening so my first project, a scarf, took about a year to finish. Eventually I did start to like all kinds of needlework and I am so glad that she taught me. She also taught me to sew, my first projects were patches on my dad's and brother's blue jeans. It didn't take me long to figure out how to sew new clothes for myself so I had a real advantage in Sewing class in grade 7. I often think of her when I'm busy with my needlework projects and wish she could see them.
My mother passed away 6 years ago, in 1995 at almost 89 years old. She had her first child on Ocotber 30, 1938, and her youngest son was married on October 28, 1988, which means that she had children in her care and in her house for two days shy of fifty years! She had fifteen children, and fourteen are still alive and well. One daughter, my sister Judith, passed away just before her fourth birthday, and was buried in Holland. Two years later my parents moved the family across the ocean to begin their new life in Canada. One year later I was born and according to dutch family tradition, I was given the same name as my sister.
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| My Mother with her only Canadian sister-in-law, Tante Jannigje (and me) |
My mother was a stickler for cleanliness and routine. Every spring the entire house had to be scrubbed top to bottom, inside and out, before May 10 which was my father's birthday. In the fall it all happened again before thanksgiving day.
What I appreciated most about my mother is how determined she was to see that we understood our advantages of having a biblical upbringing and that we learned to live out what we were taught to believe. She was especially firm in teaching us the value of our infant baptism and our covenant privileges.
My mother LOVED doing needlework, and she produced so many pieces of beautiful cross stitch wall hangings and crocheted doilies and tablecloths. She made many articles as gifts for her children and grandchildren, and even more for the yearly sales for missions or school fund raisers. She also knit hundreds of pair of socks, and I don't even know what else. Apparently she did knit and sew a lot of clothes for the oldest of my siblings, but not as much for me anymore. She taught me to knit when I was about 6 years old, and I hated it back then, but she was very persistent and she had me sit down to knit 10 rows each evening so my first project, a scarf, took about a year to finish. Eventually I did start to like all kinds of needlework and I am so glad that she taught me. She also taught me to sew, my first projects were patches on my dad's and brother's blue jeans. It didn't take me long to figure out how to sew new clothes for myself so I had a real advantage in Sewing class in grade 7. I often think of her when I'm busy with my needlework projects and wish she could see them.
My mother passed away 6 years ago, in 1995 at almost 89 years old. She had her first child on Ocotber 30, 1938, and her youngest son was married on October 28, 1988, which means that she had children in her care and in her house for two days shy of fifty years! She had fifteen children, and fourteen are still alive and well. One daughter, my sister Judith, passed away just before her fourth birthday, and was buried in Holland. Two years later my parents moved the family across the ocean to begin their new life in Canada. One year later I was born and according to dutch family tradition, I was given the same name as my sister.
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