In a letter dated June 21, 1961 to Aunt Pilke, he shares how frustrating it is that he cannot understand his grandchildren or the church service: an awful rotten language. At that time, the journey was still by ship. He mentioned in the letter that he experienced seasickness on the way there.

I have changed my boat trip from November 22 to September 9; the last four days of that trip were quite difficult for me because of seasickness. In November, it often starts to storm heavily, and besides, I also long to be home. You were right, Pilke, that I can’t be away from home for too long.

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Auke’s girlfriend also returned to her parent’s home for vacation; they live about 4 km from New York. She had written to see if we would stay with them on September 6, and they would take me to the boat on September 7, while Auke and she would return with Klaas and Annie.

In this video, Grandpa says goodbye from the SS Rotterdam and short flashes of Klaas, Auke, Annie and Anita.

Three months later, on December 5, he passed away. According to the life stories of Aunt Ynske and Aunt Trijn, he returned home sick. I’ve always understood that he helped harvest potatoes in bad weather after returning, during which he developed pneumonia.