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Added by edberylmoore

Bregtje "Bess" Bronkema

1850-1939
Born: Hornhuizen, De Marne, Groningen, Netherlands
Died: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

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  • Story: A Visit To Grandma Ronda’s House

    <div><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>By: Henry de Boer</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Ronda lived in Uncle Andrew&#39;s house and the first floor apartment. There was a living; room, kitchen and two bedrooms, the back bedroom was used sometimes to store a few hundred pounds of chestnut coal for the heater in the dining room. Grandma was usually seated at the dining room table, she had one leg up on a bench because of a stiff knee, when she walked she usually used a cane. Above her bed there was a rope that was fastened to the ceiling by which she could pull herself up to get out of bed. She would get up about six o&#39;clock in the morning; her first job was to make coffee. She had a large coffee pot, in it she would put a few spoonfuls of coffee and a bit of chicory, then fill it with water and put it, on the stove to boil. When it boiled for a while she had a cupful and then placed it on the back of the heater in the dining room to keep it warm in case any visitors would come. There was always somebody just dropping in to share a cup of coffee with her.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>We often came there for our morning coffee break, by we I mean Uncle Andrew, George, Clarence and myself&nbsp;we would knock on the front door and then walk in, the door was unlocked since six o&#39;clock in the morning, as we walked in she would say, &quot;komt er mor in en neem mor ein stoul mit,&quot; meaning come in and take a chair with you. We would sit in the dining room, Uncle Andrew sat by the table and we would sit near by.&nbsp; Sometimes we would lean back with the chair, which she did not like because she was afraid the chair might break. Then she would say &ldquo;pas op, fal me neit in bedroom or in front roem,&rdquo; meaning don&rsquo;t lean back on the chair because you might fall back in the bedroom or living room.&nbsp; </span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Uncle Andrew would light his pipe and we would light our cigarettes.&nbsp; Uncle Andrew smoked, Tip Top tobacco, which came in a half-gallon pail. She did not like for us to smoke cigarettes she did not like the smell and she called them, &ldquo;stenk stokken&rdquo; meaning stinking sticks.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>She enjoyed our visits and she made her contribution to an enjoyable visit by telling us stories about her past and she had a long one because she reached the ripe old age of eighty-eight years.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>She could tell us about the time in Holland in her hometown of Leens, which was near Ulrum, about the great controversy that was raging in the Reformed Church about the doctrines of the Rev Kok, which resulted in the separation of the Church, how it broke up many families and many friendships. She would tell us about some of her past history, which was rich in many sorts of experiences.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>But sometimes the discussions among us would lead to church matters, politics or business, we would of course talk English to these discussions and she did not understand much about it. Then you could see that she was most unhappy she would suddenly get up and walk to the living room and look out of the window, and at one time she said, &quot;nay mot yoe heis kieken, dor lopt Elsie Dobbe, zei mot vast nor Spangenberg veur ein pok shop, zei het zoon spitze neus en her bril valt ost van neus of.&quot; She was saying that her friend Elsie Dobbe was walking by, probably going to butcher, Spaagenberg, for one pork chop, she would not buy any more than necessary because she was an old cheap skate. She had such a pointy nose that her glasses would almost slip off. Of course she did not really mean that but she was trying to break up our conversation so she could get in on it again. We could see that she was rather angry and we would ask her what was the matter? She would answer and say, &quot;het is ook weer altemol engels en ik ken dor nix van verston,&quot; which meant that it was all english again and she did not understand a word of it. Then we would change the subject and talk Dutch to her again. Then everything was alright and she would say, &ldquo;nou mouten yoe mor ein ander kop coffee in skenken.&rdquo; She was in good spirits again and said we could have another cup of coffee. When we would leave we would say, thanks for the coffee and crackers, she would answer and say &quot;leg dat mor bie deur en,&quot; just leave your thank you by the door.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt">She had trouble going to sleep at night and someone suggested that she should take a tablespoon full of <font color="#800080">Rock and Rye</font> every night before she went to bed. This sounded like good solid advice to her but the trouble was she didn&rsquo;t have any. She confided in this matter with Uncle Andrew and he said he was willing to go and buy her a pint of the remedial Rock and Rye medicine. He did this and she said she had good results from it. She also told us the story about this remedy but she did not tell us about Uncle Andrew buying her a pint. We thought the least we could do was to buy her some. When we brought it to her she thanked us for it but told us not to tell Uncle Andrew about buying it for her because if he knew that we bought her some she saw the danger that she would lose one source in the future. This solved her problem of going to sleep at night.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Peit Oom was a brother of Grandpa Ronda who had died about two weeks after Dad died April 12-1924. Peit Oom lived in Grand Rapids, Mich. and was pensioned by the railroad. About once a year he would make a trip to Chicago to visit Grandma, his sister in law. He would usually stay about a week. We enjoyed this very much; we talked with him during our coffee break. He reminded us a great deal of Grandpa Ronda because he looked so much like him, and this brought back fond memories. It happened one time when the conversation didn&rsquo;t please Grandma too well that she got up and walked to the back bed room and looked out of the window and their she saw the neighbor &quot;Blanch by name&quot;, she called Peit Oom and said, &quot;kom hies hier Peit doe moast syn how Blanch dor sit, is dat neit ein skandool?&quot; She did this to distract us from our conversation and hoped that we would change the subject. She said to Peit Oom, &quot;Come here once and see how Blanch is sitting there, isn&rsquo;t that scandalous?&quot;</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Another frequent visitor for a while was Mr. Loue Bates, to was a short fat man with a little gray hair and balding. He was hard to talk to because he was deaf. He usually came in the morning when we were there too. It happened one morning that he was there and we were not there that day. This the old gentlemen saw as the opportunity of a lifetime and he took full advantage of it, he wasted no time and quickly popped the question. He suggested many advantages to both of them if they were married; he finally made one big concession that he thought would really put it over. He told her that he would be willing to put the coal on the stove since those coal pails were quite heavy. He thought this should do it. However, she was ready for that one too, she said she would do that herself and if the coal became too heavy she would use a Tip Top tobacco can witch was only about a quart size, while that would take a little longer she had plenty time to do it in. So in short she was not interested in his proposal. This was our grandmother, but that was only the one side of her, &quot;the I say it like it is side&quot;. She also had another side.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Where she sat by the dining room table there was always her Dutch bible in front of her. This bible she cherished very such, she had sewed an oilcloth cover around it to preserve it. She knew her bible from cover to cover and could quote from it at random on almost any subject we would be discussing. She found in it instruction, comfort and words to live by.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>She found comfort for herself but was also able to comfort others. When we lost our child in an accident we would go visit her in the evening and when we would leave there we be greatly comforted by the words she spoke to us.&nbsp; When Dr. J. Van Lonkuyzen lost his wife he was beside himself with grief and he would often go there to the cemetery and sit on the grave and weep. </span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>He would often visit grandma because he was the minister of her church at that time.&nbsp; He would complain to her and tell her of his great grief and how he would often go to the cemetery. She told him how wrong that was and where was his faith? Didn&rsquo;t he know that she was not there but that she was now in heaven and that someday they would meet again in the mansions above? He would leave there greatly comforted and remembered her for that for many years. It happened that grandma had a birthday and her children and grandchildren went there to celebrate with her. This event was written up in the local Dutch paper &ldquo;Onze Toekomst&rdquo;. Dr, Van Lonkuyzen had gone back to the Netherlands and served a church there, he still subscribed to this Chicago paper and when he got a copy of the paper and read about Grandma&#39;s birthday he sat down and wrote her a very nice letter to congratulate her but especially called attention to his visits there when he lost his wife, how that she had comforted him and had changed his attitude completely, he thanked her very much again.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>She was a woman of great faith, this faith was greatly tried and tested in her lifetime but it never failed. When they were still in the old country she cared for her mother in law who was helpless and bedridden for a long time, besides this she had to work to feed a large family. Then the family moved from the old country to find a better life in America and to join her <span style="font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt">son <font color="#0000ff">Jim</font> who </span>had left a year earlier, she soon afterward lost her first husband, our grandfather, he passed away March 25, 1924.&nbsp; She later married her second husband Egbert Ronda that explains why we called her Grandma Ronda. This also was a happy marriage. Grandpa Ronda passed away April 12, 1924, this left her a widow once more.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>She also lost five of her children as adults. Each of these losses meant a great deal to her, her grief was almost more than she could bear. </span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Her first loss was a daughter, Hendrickje, who was killed in a streetcar accident on Blue Island Ave near Eighteenth St., this was in 1897, she was 25 years old.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Another daughter died of an illness, Geziena, Mrs. Bonne Iwama, this was June 25, 1902.&nbsp; She was only 24 years old.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>Then a son, Klaas who, after a short time of illness, passed away in 1915 at the age of 39 years old.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>The next was Dad, her <span style="font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt">son <font color="#0000ff">Jemme</font>, </span>who passed away after an illness of only five days, this was on March 27, 1924, and he was forty-nine years of age and was buried on his fiftieth birthday.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>On June 27, 1931 word was brought to her that her son Johannes died suddenly of an attack while working on the truck, he was brought to the hospital but died soon afterward. He was 47 years old.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span>And in all this her faith failed not. When she was 88 years old she became ill and a week later went to join those that had gone on before. When she was on her sick bed she said she would still like to live a while longer but if the Lord took her she was ready to go. She was certainly a remarkable woman, and for those who remember her she will always have a highly respected place in our memories.</span></span></font></p></div>

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