Photo: First night in the van: "...and the bed is where, exactly?"

From Muiden we drove SE to the small town of Terborg near the Dutch-German border. During World War II, Judy's father was a major in the Canadian artillery, serving in France and Holland, and he was in Amsterdam for the Liberation. After the war ended in 1945, he took up staff duties at the Canadian Army HQ, and his letters home describe his scrambling to put together a formal dinner with members of the Dutch Royal Family attending, what was obviously a short-fused tasking from the Canadian General Officer Commanding. His letters also relate that he became friends with a Dutch family in Terborg, visiting them occasionally. In addition to having clothing sent from his family in Halifax, he also corresponded with one of the daughters of the Dutch family, named Madelon, who could speak and write english. A few of Judy's father's letters home were preserved, as were two letters from Madelon; these letters thanked him for articles of clothing sent from Halifax, and also mentioned her engagement in the fall of 1946 to a fellow Dutch Red Cross worker, Robert, who was about to be posted to Batavia (Dutch East Indies) with the Dutch Army.

Judy was hoping to track down Madelon and Robert, or their family members, and briefly to reconnect a friendship from 65 years ago. However, Judy's father's letters home never mentioned the family by name, and neither of the letters from Madelon to Judy's father contain any more specific indentification than her signature "Madelon" and a return address of "Terborg, Passberg, Geldenerland". So, armed with this scanty information, we started our search at the two local churches, where both pastors stated that would ask their congregations and check any marriage records from the mid- to late-forties. An inquiry at the community records office led to no additional information other than two addresses for local Red Cross offices and a seniors' home; a short drive to both Red Cross locations determined both were outdated and therefore dead-ends. The visit to the senior's home also produced no results beyond other helpful suggestions and a welcome cup of coffee. We left Terborg figuring that the most likely source of success would be the churches, for which we have contacts now, and a subsequent search through Dutch Red Cross archives in Den Haag (The Hague) which will have to be taken up at some later date.

From Terborg we crossed the border into Germany and then on to Düsseldorf, to hook up with one of Steph's friends from summer camp. No sooner were introductions complete than we were invited in to spend a night or two in the guest room! Our kind of friends!