When you are there: The life story of an emigrant in Canada by her sister Nelly Schouw-Zaat (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9789083267685)

Leida Froklage-Zaat from Kwintsheul emigrated to Canada in May 1952. As a 24-year-old newlywed, she boarded the emigrant ship "De Waterman" with her husband Henk Froklage. She knew that "every beginning is difficult". It started on the boat: men and women slept separately, and if they weren't seasick and the weather on the Atlantic Ocean wasn't too bad, they could meet on deck. After an endless train journey through the province of Ontario, they ended up in a two-room cabin that would become their home. They fetched water from the well outside and cooked on a wood-burning stove.

Yet now, at the age of 97, Leida can tell her life story without bitterness. A history of 73 years in Canada, a country she has come to love, without forgetting her own childhood and her family in the Netherlands. A history rooted in humor, music, love for your neighbors and faith.

Compiling a book like this is an honorable assignment and a responsible task. I started in May 2024 and it was a search through many letters, notes, clippings and my own memories to make it into a whole. Beautiful moments from our youth came to the surface. You must make a choice from these, in such a way that it evokes recognition, emotion and sometimes surprise in the readers.

Once the texts had been written, the technical part of the production began. The manuscript had to be corrected, and sometimes parts had to be rewritten. Photographs were selected to match the spirit of the story. All of this was digitally organized into files and chapters. I was assisted in this by my daughter-in-law Yvette Schouw-Olsthoorn. She and Elianne Fransen-Schouw made it possible for me to take an eight-day trip to Canada in October 2023 to visit Leida and help her sort through all the material she had collected about her life.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all of them.

Poeldijk, summer 2025

Nelly Schouw-Zaat