In a commemorative
book, which was made on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Johanna
Somsen-Beumer [70] in August 1989 a beautiful moving homage to her late
husband, Harminus Somsen [45] from Aalten, 1902-1962, was incorporated. A
homage in the form of a fairy-tale, handed in then by Ad and Aafje Somsen from
Edam, written by Adriaan Gerard Somsen, Ad [52].
Now it is well over
eleven years later.
Ad Somsen suddenly
died on 11 February 2000. Mrs Somsen-Beumer (Aunt Jo) in Aalten is at a very advanced
age and she is very vulnerable.
During the Somsen
Boat-trip of 13 May last – see elsewhere in this magazine – all kind of
conversations arose among the many family members. We indulged in several
reminiscences. Also the beautiful ‘fairy-tale’ mentioned above came up. Harmien
Bakker-Somsen [73], daughter of Aunt Jo, spoke about it with much emotion after
all these years. We would like you join us enjoying it.
So as not to disturb
the atmosphere we have explained the family relations in a footnote.
Once upon a time, long, long ago there were two little boys. Together with their father and mother and many more brothers and sisters they lived in a small town. One boy was four years old and the other one five. Two brothers and they always played together and were also up to a lot of mischief together. One always helped the other, in fact they were just like two friends.
The mother did not have so much time to play
with them. She was always doing the laundry or scrubbing the floor. The boys
were allowed though, to ride on her back in turn while she was scrubbing or
they were allowed to sit on the drum when she was doing the laundry. Then the
mother turned a handle for a long time and together they sang beautiful songs,
mostly religious songs. Your bottom sure got warm on that drum.
The father did not have any time at all to play
with the boys, he was always working. On Sundays they had to walk with him,
though. For a very long time. The boys did not like this at all because they
also had to come along to church twice. So the boys often felt quite bored.
But sometimes there was a surprise. Then their
mother waked them up – after they had already slept for a long time – for this
uncle had come again with this beautiful car! They liked this uncle very much,
much more than all the other uncles.
They were allowed to come with this uncle in his car, very exciting.
Then they drove a long distance and they stayed with him!
The house where this uncle lived had a very
long passage and a forge where they made the iron very very hot and then they
hit on it with a hammer.
There were also a grandfather and an aunt who
lived in that house. They did not like this grandfather so much. Actually they
were a little
scared of him. The aunt was
nice but they liked the uncle
most of all. From him they
always got permission to play
everywhere, even in the forge. Dicky
and Addy
And they liked it very much
when he made a liquorice drink for them every
time that they stayed with him. It went like this: first the three of them went
out to buy a thick bar of liquorice in one of these small shops. Then the uncle
cut the liquorice into small pieces, which he put into two bottles that he
filled with water. First these had to be shaken very well and then they had to
stay in a dark cupboard for a whole day and a night before the liquorice drink
was finished. The two boys thought that this invariably lasted a very long
time… Over and over again they asked their uncle if the liquorice drink was finished
for they were so eager to get a draft of it. Then he would set the cupboard
door ajar and would quickly glance inside and shake his head. So it was not
finished yet and they had to wait some more time.
There were also chickens and a dog called Castor.
The uncle also used to play games with the boys
and one very nice game was having Castor look for a peppermint. Then Castor had
to leave the room first and then the peppermint was always put on the clock
that hung on the wall. Under the clock there was a chair. When Castor was let
inside he immediately jumped on the chair and with his front paw he could hit
the peppermint from the clock. The aunt, who took care of the cooking and the
house, did not like this game so much ‘for’, she said, ‘by the clock it is
always half past five!’
Once the uncle was a little angry with the
boys. Since they were allowed to play everywhere they had gone into the
beautiful car one day, which was no longer used. The car was in a large shed.
It had
no wheels anymore but stood on wooden blocks.
Playing in this car was the ultimate joy for
the boys. The uncle had said that they might not touch anything. They played
driver. In turn each of the boys was allowed to sit at the wheel and turn it a
little. They made humming noises just like the engine. Suddenly they discovered
a key and they totally forgot that they were not allowed to touch anything. The
car suddenly shook and then there
was a loud bang. The car stood much lower then.
The grandfather was very angry with the uncle and
the uncle was a little bit angry with the boys.
The boys have grown up. They have lived rather
happily for a long time. They have become uncles themselves. When there are
little boys who come and stay with them they try to be just like the friendly
uncle they had themselves, but… they do take the key out of the car. ¦
Note: The two little boys: Dicky, Derk Jan (1927-) [51] and
Addy, Adriaan Gerard (1928-2000) [52], fifth and sixth child of Derk Jan Somsen
[40] and Aleida Gezina Stronks [46] from Doesburg. The uncle is Harminus Somsen
[45] from Aalten, Landstraat 7, where also Granddad Frederik Hendrik Somsen
[16] and aunt Grada Aleida Johanna [43] lived.
by Johan
F.Somsen [1086]
The
Four Days’ Marches of Niimegen are, seen from an international point of view,
one of the most popular walking festivities in the world. A legion of more than
40,000 people from well over 50 countries passes through the beautiful
surroundings of Nijmegen for four days on a daily route, varying from 20 to 30
miles each day.
The plan to walk the Four Days’ Marches one time in my life arose in February this year when I was out skiing in the French Alps with five friends. We are all members of a somewhat exceptional male choir that mainly concentrates on the singing of Irish ballads, drinking songs and tearjerkers at which pleasure occupies a far more important place than musical quality.
In the evenings after skiing the six of us sat down at strategic places in the bar of the hotel where we sang one song after the other and in the course of the week the mood got merrier and merrier. In short, the evenings had become one big party and the bartender’s sales had never been so high. According to some of the people there we had created an atmosphere that also existed during the Four Days’ Marches of Nijmegen and with that observation in mind we had soon taken a decision. We were to walk The Four Days’ Marches!
The training
Back in Epe we unfolded our plans in the choir and immediately there were some more candidates and in March we could form a club of some twelve enthusiastic men who passed through the surroundings of Epe every Wednesday evening for a walk of about 17 miles. Not everyone was to join us in Nijmegen but the preparations were so enormously inspiring that all of us were looking forward to the Wednesday evenings. We walked to our heart’s content and of course we talked and debated about all the important and trivial matters of life. At the end of these walks we persisted in taking a few liquid delicacies in a local pub and in
this manner we slowly but surely prepared ourselves thoroughly for the great event in Nijmegen.
In three months’ time we had covered about 220 miles on average and that should be more than sufficient. Meanwhile the press people had also heard about our preparations and further plans and just prior to The Four Days’ Marches there was an article with a large picture about us in the local newspaper.
l: Johan Somsen, with his
friends
The great walk
Eventually five of us appeared at the start but we were such a choice group that a very enjoyable trip was absolutely guaranteed. Adorned with odd Õ
headgear: turban, fez, top hat, clown’s hat and Stetson, we started brimful with enthusiasm and so we continued until the very last step. The festive spirit still increased because of the numberless concerts we spontaneously gave while walking, encouraged by the other walkers all around us.
During the walk on the second day we landed in a pub in the centre of Wijchen and before we actually realised what was happening we found ourselves with a microphone in our hands. We gave a small concert and in return the enthusiastic audience treated us on all kind of drinks. After that we had lost all inhibitions and during the rest of the trip jokes and gags were rife. From that moment no bigwig was safe from us anymore.
In every village we passed through they had erected some sort of canopy from which the local mayor, in full state, so with his chain of office, flanked by his wife, notary, doctor, priest, minister and army generals, watched the procession of walkers pass by. In most cases great care was being taken to refresh the inner man in these canopies and for the purpose there was practically always a waiter standby with a dish full of delicious snacks. As soon as we spotted such a waiter, without exception we feasted upon the delicacies on his dish and consequently we thanked the mayors for the fantastic service. Next we showered the dignitaries with congratulations and last but not least we kissed and embraced the mayors’ wives, irrespective of their natural beauty.
This sustained us all these days and on closer inspection we do not know precisely if we managed to finish The Four Days’ Marches because we had trained so much or because of the fact that we had been so anxiously looking forward to the next canopy with bigwigs.
At the end of each day most walkers had a chat afterwards and enjoyed the day in retrospect. The weather was perfect that week and the gatherings at the end of each day were invariably a big party under the shade of beautiful plane trees with a pint of delicious beer. And of course another small concert was bound to take place - soon the five of us were standing on the tables giving our best Irish songs and our most heartrending tearjerkers. At one of these spontaneous performances the musicians of a brass band that had just played took out their instruments again to accompany us.
Via Gladiola
The entry in Nijmegen on the fourth day was a true award for a delicious walking and festival week. The last five miles were more like a Mardi Gras parade than like a walking event. Crowds of people were lining the route, for the
occasion renamed as Via Gladiola, to welcome
the exhausted walkers and of course our own wives or girl friends were also waiting for us at the finish. After passionate farewells to the many new friends and especially the new girl friends we had come to know during the walking event we returned to Epe.
All of us preferred to go to our table in our favourite pub in Epe instead of plunging into the massive revelry in Nijmegen. There we sat and talked in a small-scale company and enjoyed the afterglow of a fantastic week in Nijmegen.
Which of you took one or more pictures of a peasant couple dressed in the beautiful traditional costume of the Achterhoek on Sunday, 10 August 1997 (during the Memorial Meeting in St. Helena’s Church in Aalten)?
The people in those costumes were Hennie [1047]
and Willemien van Eerden-Somsen [979].
Hennie and Willemien would like to lay hands on
pictures of them in their Saxon costumes.
You could do them a favour by sending your copy
to: H. van Eerden-Somsen
Markeringsdijk 10a, 7122 RK Aalten, The Netherlands, Phone: +31
(0)543 45 16 45