We, myself and Adeline, grew up in the shadow of the same church steeple, Denderhoutem. We went to the same kindergarten, where we fell in love, under the watchful eye of sister Frederique...We spent the war years in the same village.. The first year after the war - I was 16 then - was the happiest year of my life. In 1955, during my first vacation, as a colonial civil servant in Africa, we finally got engaged and married in Kinshasa, on July 20 1955. Babies came with the same regularity as the rainy seasons... Ann in 1956, Guy in January 1958, Jan (Gus) in December 1958, (no, it`s not a typing error), Chris in 1960, (ten days before the Independence of the Congo) Luc in 1962 and Marianne in 1964.
After 10 years of a unique job, in the Congo, I was suddenly looking for work. I found a job as a bank clerk. After a lot of studying, I became a branch manager, six years later. That`s when I left and joined the foreign service of my country, Belgium. During my 28 years, I was posted 12 years in New York, 6 years in Toronto Canada, 6 years in Houston, Texas and again 4 years in New-York. There I retired as Consul of Belgium in 1994.
During my whole career, Adeline made it very easy for me, by taking excellent care of the children and the household, and by doing so, allowing me to study, year after year. She took care of the material , moral, and spiritual needs of the children. So much so, that the saying still goes...... If you have a problem, go to Moe.....She took to painting lately, and without any instruction whatsoever, is doing quite well. A handful of paintings and drawings are displayed.
Our children did very well, given the difficult circumstances of moving around (we are living in our 16th house...).
Ann is married to Paul Hansen. They have two daughters, Cynthia, a paramedic and Tracey, a college student. HANSEN HOMES, their company, builds yearly between 50 and 60 homes in the Cape Coral area, Florida. If you want a pied-a-terre in Florida, they can still build you one, for around 80.000 $, lot included.- Feel free to contact the company at HHOMES1@aol.com.
Guy lives in Orillia, Canada. He is a consultant, with the O.P.P. (Ontario Provincial Police) taking care of all their computer problems. He had to travel extensively, as of late, within the province. He loves his property in the woods, were we have an annual picnic.
Jan (Gus) was a math teacher in high school, for one year. He left to pursue a carrier in computers. He has been with the same company, DATATEL, ever since. His wife, PATTY, passed away, December 20 1998, after a ten year struggle with MS. He has two children Nicole, 14 and Kelly 9. They live in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
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Chris is a teacher in elementary school. She married Gary Fullford. Gary has a business of manufacturing roofing materials. They live in Brampton, Canada and have two adorable boys Devin (Lee) 8 and Cory 7.
Luc is a chemical engineer, with ICI cie. He is still with his first employer. He is married to Sue, who is also an elementary school teacher. They have three children, Sara 8, who is autistic, Emilie 5 and Bryan 1 year old. Luc is very involved in fund raising for autism research.
Marian has a degree in communication but prefers to be a homemaker. She is married to David Dorman, who is an assistant minister of his church, The Church of God. They have two children Lisa 6 and Daniel 4. They live in Streetsville, Canada.
Together we are a happy bunch, with our little differences, but to the outside world we stick together like a nest of wasps. Well, kind of.....
