Joost Sijtsma: “Ready to leave on our solid Heinkel scooter. This is how my parents and I were photographed around 1962. At first I rode with them. When I got too big for that, my father made a special seat, right behind the wheel. And when I grew out of that, I couldn’t keep up.
“The photo was taken in front of my parental home on the Huizumerlaan in Leeuwarden. It was my mother’s birthplace; she has always lived there. Sometime in the late thirties, my father’s mother, a widow with three children, came to live opposite my mother’s house from Hylaard near Leeuwarden. That’s how my parents met.
“On the scooter, my parents made day trips in Friesland. They also went on holiday with it, to Germany. I found that remarkable. My father was caught in a raid as a person in hiding during the war. From a camp near Hanover he had to work in a factory. He has experienced bombing raids by Allied aircraft. After the war, my father could be very frightened by a door that slammed shut with a loud bang.
“Despite his war experiences, my father enjoyed going on holiday to Germany. First with my mother and after her death alone. When riding a scooter became more difficult, he went on bus trips. Always to Blankenheim in the Eifel, where he stayed in the same hotel for at least 35 years, Hotel Schlossblick. Because of his loyal visit to this town, he received an award from the mayor.”
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