After approximately three weeks from being freed from the prisoner of war camp, Opa got some good and bad news. The bad news that we would never reunite with his parents again and the good news being that his brothers had survived and he would reunite with them soon but for now, he had to kep healthy and stable.One year after his release, Hans decided to move to Holland, and six years after moving to the Netherlands he decided to start college at the age of 20. This college however, was not a typical college for the Bachelor of Arts or Science degree, but a college for future naval officers. This was the Royal Netherlands Naval College and this is where my Opa believed that the start of his new beginning began.
At the Royal Netherlands Naval College or RNNC, Opa was taught everything from traditional sea rope knots, to how to navigate through the sea.After six studious and exciting years, Hans finally graduated. For the first few months after graduating, Hans spent as much time with his new girlfriend, Adajie Bekebrade, a young dutch women who caught not only his eyes, but his heart. After the first six months of keeping his graduation certificate in the cupboard, Opa finally decided to do something with it and set sail on KPM shipments. This brang great pleasure to my Opa.
In the year of 1956 my Opa, Hans Vanderwel, married my Oma, Adajie Bekebrade. However, this wasnt the average walk down the aisle wedding as my Opa was at sea, and my Oma was sitting in the longue room on the day of their marriage and therefore they got married over the phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment