Dutch and German Immigrants The Prins Family - Pier 21

that for a long time on my way to school I had to pass by a burned-outgreengrocer’s store and that place smelled awful.Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, if I didn’t play soccer, I wentswimming. I rode my bike to the Velserbad with a dime in my pocket,five cents to park my bike and give cents to buy a ship discuit and washappy as a lark. On the old black & white movie we have you can see meplaying soccer on the old Stormvogels field; it must have been acompetition between the local schools.Once coming back from the beach, I think, Klaar and I tangled up thehandlebars of our bikes with me hitting the pavement and banging upmy head, bleeding like mad and I needed stitches; the scar is there stilltoday. Klaar looked understandably unhappy but he couldn’t help iteither.The farm in Aslsmeer has always played a big part in my life. As Imentioned already, my first visits there were with my parents, but theycontinued once I was living with my grandparents. The first time UncleArie Kramp picked me up at home. He was married to a sister of OpaSohl with another sister of them being Rineke’s grandmother. They livedin IJmuiden in the Keizer Whilhelmstraat and had a furniture an draperystore there. This store was constructed out of two adjoining housesmade into one by opening up the inside wall. In the back of thecourtyard was his workshop where he repaired all kinds of furniture.Most people didn’t have cars yet and everything was delivered bypushcart or on the bike with a huge baggage carrier in the front. UncleArie put me in this carrier and off we went for the two or three hour tripfrom IJmuiden, through Haarlem and the Haarlemmermeer, to Aalsmeerand the Zuiderlegmeer, where the farm was situated. The first time Istayed for one week, later on longer and always during the summerholidays. I always tried to get there when it was harvest time; old stylesheaves were piled high upon the horse-drawn wagon and then the ridehomeards with Wim Biemond and I on top! Wim Biemond was agrandson of Aunt Aal, had a twin sister Ina and they lived kitty cornerfrom the Van Doorns on another farm. They were about the same age asI and made perfect playmates. Wim and I played a lot together dammingoff ditches, building shaky bridges across them, constructing shelterswith straw bales in the hay shed. Looking back upon that time with allour activities, they put up with a lot. Later Klaar brought me and when Iwas old enough I rode my bike there by myself.I want to quote a saying that Uncle Arie often used:Het is zo gelegenDe een kwam de ander tegen