Stories are the way to describe the history of families. Everyone has a nice family story, something that prompts an “oh yes” reaction when the story is told again. The words “pudding” and “matchboxes” are directly connected to the House of Vorden, where 4 young children had to eat a terrible pudding made by their mother. If they didn’t… Find this story below.
Matchboxes
We – Karin (12), Diederik (10), Pauline (6) and I, Liesbeth (7) – have, in 1952, already been living temporarily with our grandparents at the castle in Vorden for two years, together with our mother. This “lodging” would last 4 years.
We came back from the Dutch East Indies in 1950. Our father stayed behind there. Our grandparents live with uncle Paul on the ground floor and we on the first floor. A little kitchen and a sort of bathroom with a sit-bath have been created there for us.
This little story takes place in that last room. One day mummy says we may go to the circus. But first we have to eat. For dessert she has made a strawberry-pink pudding with little specks. We bravely eat up our food, but the first bite of the pudding is not at all to our liking: it stings on our tongue. Mummy’s message, however, is clear: “You must all eat everything up, or else: no circus!”
Diederik tries really hard to eat the pudding, Karin probably too. But we, the little ones, cannot swallow a single bite. The prospect that the little ones will then get the blame for the circus not being visited is a heavy burden on our young shoulders.
Then Diederik has a brilliant idea! He collects matchboxes, which can offer a solution. He checks whether he can leave the bathroom unseen, and a little later he sneaks back in with the boxes. We fill the matchboxes with the leftover pudding, slide the window up and wave bye bye to the pudding. They have a soft landing in the moat!
We went to the circus, but I have no memory of that at all. Years later, when we were already grown up, we confessed this story to our mother. She laughed heartily about it.
Elisabeth Raadsen – Tielenius Kruijthoff (Branch B)
Do you have a family story that is nice to share? The editors would be glad to receive it. Please also state your family name, the date (if it can still be traced) and the location. You can send your family story via the library contribution form.
