Saying yes to a wedding invite

The Kersten family came to Africa from Europe on the Zuiderkruis, June 1958

When I met Fred in 1977 I had no hint that he was not South African and it came as a real surprise to me when he first spoke Dutch and introduced me to his family in Zimbabwe.

His father came out to Rhodesia in the late 50's to make a new life after the tough post war years in the Netherlands.

Fred Snr came out to Rhodesia about 6 months before the family. With hindsight, so courageous.

We have this document which is a little gem, Fred, the 'alien', arriving in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland on the 3 June 1958, a little soul of 8, not speaking a word of English.

The family came across from Europe on the Zuiderkruis, his mother, his 2 brothers, Hans and Henk and his 2 sisters, Elly and Louise.

I can imagine what a handful they must have been and what fun they must of had. Fred remembers dressing up and playing hide and seek on board and just never being found.

Even though Fred had a large extended family overseas, he grew up not meeting or knowing his relations, except his grandmother who did visit once.

When it came to planning our wedding we sent invites to all his relatives in Holland.

I have this postcard from Fred's Mom sent from Queenspark, Bulawayo to my flat in Berea on the 26th March 1979, she is very excited to share her news: 'Surprise, surprise, you no who is coming to your wedding? Tante Roet and Ome Piet, your fathers brother and sister.'

Having the two special and unexpected guests added a wonderful dimension to our ceremony and a happy time for Fred's father.

Ian Wedderburn my cousin, who was our Master of Ceremonies, even prepared a piece in his speech, in Dutch, to welcome them.

Saying yes to the wedding also got us interested in seeing Ome Piet and Tante Roet again, as well as getting curious about the bigger family.

During our travels overseas during the eighties and when we lived in Paris, we had loads of fun spending time with the extended Kersten clan in the Netherlands, meeting most of Fred Snr. brothers and sisters as well as cousins along the way. We even had the opportunity to meet Fred's mother's sisters who were still alive in 1982.

We went past his birthplace in Amsterdam, other houses that he had lived in, churches he knew, we ate foods that he recalled like 'poffertjes' and 'zoute haring', enjoyed fields of tulips, watched windmills turning, ate rounds of glorious cheese, travelled the length and breadth of the country and had many sociable meals with the family in their homes.

A lovely time.

We slowly lost contact with the extended family during the busy nineties, raising our own family, working hard at work and life in general. The older generation has mostly passed on now, with Tante Lies, the oldest sister dying last month in her early 90's. An era has passed and I am pleased we made the touches when we did.

Social media has been useful to keep in touch with the cousins and Peter Kersten and I make good use of Facebook to stay in touch.

Shawni and Barry have a clear sense of their Dutch roots from their father which they value and this pleases Fred.