Paterson , 19.4.25

 

Dear Tjamme and Atje!

 

We received your letter in good health [they state they are helathey] and with great pleasure. We hear from you that you are all healthy, except Atje's mother. We hope that she may recover soon. All of us over here are healthy as well, it is almost one o'clock at night when I write this, for it heavy weahter, we cannout sleep like this anyhow. It was horrible just, such a heavy [thunder] strike. And so we sit around the table and a said to Trijntje [Jan Machiela x Trijntje van der Kooi]: I just start writing. It is a strange time so in the middle of the night, but I am well awake. We also did receive the letters from Father and Mother [Anne Jacobs Machiela x Sijke Pieters Rozendal] en Pieter en Boukje [brother Pieter Machiela x Baukje van der Kooi, sister of Trijntje?],  also one from A.Hogenhuis. I will reply him [Hogenhuis] soon, you can tell him thatt Tjamme. But I had to read in tears the letter from Father and Mother. It is such a shame that mother cannot set herself over it a bit, we would

 

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like it soo much when that would improve a bit. We were so glad with the pictures how smart they all looked again, little Marijke  [Maartje Machiela] too. Now we can look at  their faces once again, for if one is separated so far, one jumps almost up to the ceiling once a letter arrives. We are far better off that there (believe me)! I would also like having our dear parents and brother Pieter and Boukje over, so they would have it better as well. But is is not that easy to come over! I have it not a hard as over there, although my boss is very busy, but work is being made much easier over here. And that is worth something if one doesn't has to [unknown] potato-planter, beet-lifter (hand tools for ?, planting potatoes and lifting sugar beets, implying this is mechanised in the US). And above that earning more as there. Learning to speak englisch goes well for me; this is also what they say at my boss's: we don't see that often, that the learn as fast as I do. If I would get it  (the english language) a bit, the better we could care for ourselves. But I would like to see some impovements at our beloved parents's as well. With this I end for tonight, and have to go to bed once again.

 

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Now I will write some more, it is sunday again. We attended church this morning, it was English (spoken) and the afternoon will be Dutch. And now I have some time left to write for we do not have to walk a great distant to the church as over there (the Netherlands). And allways walking on cement (paved vs unpaved), that walks beautifull as you can imagine. If we come and visit someday, see to it that the dirt (sand) road is like it! I never had a healthy color as now, I just told Trijntje yesterday: I am as red as a bead. You should be able to see me now and you would say: yes you have a lovely color right now!  I hope we will see eachother once again, we all are still young. And we might see (eachother along with) father and mother, but we do not know how long the Lord spares us in this life.

I could earn some more money, but I learn English quicker with my current boss, for they only speak english to me. After that we will see again, we are only just arrived. It is a beautifull country with all these mountains. You will understand that this is a big change for me. If I was at the fields (back home)

 

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I did only see (the only elevated places were) the old and the new dike en now I look down on all these houses, some distance away it rises again up the mountain. And then I see the electric tram so often, and the number of the trains that pass us, and than all the cars. That is the view one has from the fields. And then I see sometimes up to three tractors near each other cultivatoring or ploughing, that is what they all do with these things.

There still are others, those with less money, they this use horses, but that is almost undoable for all the stones (No stones in het Bildt, just lovely light silty clays). Yes, Tj. and A. you would be suprises to see this all. I saw my first snake yesterday (no snakes in het Bildt), they just appear, plenty (his first adopted english word!) here. I had to get accustomed to them, but most of them shy away, but not all. But there are enough pebbles around, no need to look for them, you just hid them on the head, some of them are 7-8 foot long, others just 75 centimeter. I will stop for now although I planned to reply on all that writing of yours, but I run out of paper. Recieve our well meant greetings and receive all those words with blessing of the Lord. Greetings to Father and Mother, Br en Z (brothers and Sisters) friends   and girlfriends. Jan and Trijntje.