Erik: “The work comes first. Always. I got that from home. My father drove the tractor on the land in the Wilhelminapolder: he started at the age of sixteen and stopped at the age of sixty-four.”
Gonneke: “It was a classic working-class family where there was less to spend. Then work and earning money are important. My father was a teacher and also very active in local politics. He was also called the ‘mayor’ of Wilhelminadorp. As a child I learned that he was never home in the evenings. So no, I did not want to go into politics myself. But at a certain point it turned out that way. My father was a member of the Labor Party, but after some hassle with other municipal councilors he started his own party: Party for Goes. He asked me if I wanted to join.”
Erik: “Also because your father died.”
Gonneke: “Well, I was already a councilor before that. But indeed, he was still training me when he died very suddenly. A cardiac arrest. That’s how I took over his place and I even became party leader. That went quickly. A bit too fast. But now I have already started my third term as a councilor. Last elections I was number three on the list. We got two seats, but I still got into the council with preferential votes. How many preferential votes were there? Three hundred…”
Daughter Esmee from the couch: ‘311!’
Gonneke: “I had votes at every polling station in the municipality. I thought that was special.”
Erik: “You were also the first woman on the list. That also helps.”
Gonneke: “As a councilor, you spend twenty hours a week attending council meetings and preparing documents. Sometimes it takes more time, sometimes less. I think the best part is being able to achieve something locally, such as with the new housing estate here in the village. All cars would have to go straight through the village for that – and it is already quite busy with tourism. Now we have managed to have the approach route routed around the village. Then I think: we have arranged that nicely.”
Fries in the vibrating chute
Erik: “I have been working as a service technician at FoodeQ in Steenbergen for eight years. They are involved in vibrating technology in the food industry, for example for chip factories. There the fries are not transported on a conveyor belt, but in a large stainless steel container that vibrates: a vibrating chute. That is what I am the service man for. Installing, maintaining, modifying, breakdowns. I do that all over the world.”
Gonneke: “Not many people can do what Erik does. They really like him. He looks beyond the superficial solution and continues until he finds the cause.”
Erik: “Sometimes this is just around the corner – in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany – but I also regularly have to travel further away. I have just been to Canada and at the end of the year I can go to Australia for eight weeks. I find it a nice challenge that I have to solve a problem in a different place every time, with the local people and possibilities.”
Gonneke: “We at home make our own plans here. Erik knows when he leaves in the morning, but never when he comes home. So if he is there, he eats with us, otherwise it will be later or he will eat something on the way. Well. You can make a fuss about it, but that doesn’t get you anywhere. We are used to it by now.”
There are childhood photos of daughters Eline and Esmee on the wall.
Photo Mona van den Berg
Jacuzzi and a week on Texel
Gonneke: “The division has always been that Erik was away and I arranged things at home here, also with the children. We wanted children of our own, so I also wanted to take care of them myself. They have never been to a daycare.”
Erik: “When the eldest was born, Gonneke was still working. In the supermarket. Then I had to be home in time in the evening to relieve her, which was usually not possible. That caused so much stress that Gonneke stopped working completely after six months.”
Gonneke: “That wasn’t always fun, of course. Sometimes I wanted something other than being at home with the children. On the other hand, I didn’t have that many diplomas. I spent two years studying to be a car mechanic, but that didn’t suit me well. Then I started working in the supermarket. I wanted to earn money rather than learn. But afterwards I think: I wish I had followed a training course. Now I occasionally fill in as an unqualified assistant at a primary school in Goes, but that is only allowed if substitute – and not permanent.”
Erik: “You are now giving that extra gift to our children, aren’t you?”
Gonneke“I say to them: look, I can’t get any further because I don’t have any diplomas. I believe that has been received. The youngest has her diploma as a teaching assistant. The eldest is an interior design consultant and now works in the office of a mortgage and insurance advisor. She really enjoys it there.”
Erik: “Caregiving is currently also taking up a large part of your time.”
Gonneke: “Yes, my mother has had several strokes and can no longer walk properly. She lives here in the village, so I arrange a lot for her. Recently Erik’s parents have also joined us. His mother has early dementia and his father has Parkinson’s. Yes, that is quite tough.”
Erik: “Gonneke has a nice, down-to-earth view of things. That is very nice for my parents.”
Gonneke: “I always go to the doctor, have contact with the district nurse, arrange all care requests. Erik is also present at important appointments.”
Erik: “The situation with my parents makes me think about our own lives. It certainly does.”
Gonneke: “I always said to his parents: go and enjoy life! Go on holiday or do fun things. But no, there was still this and that to be done. And now it’s too late.”
Erik: “That is why we have recently become a bit more comfortable with purchasing things. For example, we recently bought a jacuzzi for the garden.”
Gonneke: “And we have been saying for years that we want to go to Texel. Now we have booked it. You just have to do it and enjoy it.”
Gonneke de Boe-Hoogerland (51) and Erik de Boe (52) live in Wilhelminadorp, near Goes. They have two daughters: Eline (26) and Esmee (21). Esmee still lives at home. Gonneke is a municipal councilor for the Party for Goes, a volunteer at the animal shelter and occasionally works as a teaching assistant at a primary school. Erik is a service technician at FoodeQ Engineering, a company that makes machines for the food industry. About 70 percent of his assignments are abroad.
Erik earns one and a half times the average. Gonneke receives a compensation of approximately 1,900 euros per month for her council work.
What is your last Tikkie sent?
Gonneke: “For 24.99 euros, to my daughter’s mother-in-law when we went to a terrace.”
Weekly shopping or going to the supermarket every day?
Gonneke: “On Mondays I get the weekly groceries from Dirk van den Broek, for myself and my mother. For the weekend I get some extra things from Albert Heijn, or on Saturday morning at the market.”
What’s your last biggest expense?
A screen for the glass roof of the extension: 6,000 euros. Erik: “We couldn’t even sit there in the summer, it got so hot.”
Second-hand or rather new?
Gonneke: “Clothes are new anyway. We sometimes buy building materials second-hand.”
Erik: “I recently bought second-hand roof panels for the shed via Marktplaats. Very nice.”
How much pocket money do you give to the children?
Gonneke: “We never gave the children pocket money. Not even a clothing allowance. If they needed something, we just paid for it.”
Erik: “We still pay the telephone bill for both of them. We paid for their studies and driver’s licenses. They pay for everything else themselves. No, we don’t ask for board money. I don’t want that. They are my children. Period.”
Gonneke: “I prefer that they can save for the future.”
What are you saving for?
A new kitchen. Erik: “That should be possible within five years.”
Who cleans up the house?
Gonneke: “I have the house, he has the garage.”
Erik: “To each his own.”
Gonneke: “I vacuum every day – that is necessary with three cats – but it does not have to be sterile. Livable is good enough.”
What was really a bad buy?
Gonneke: “A steam cleaner for the bathroom. I actually never use it.”
Who decides what you will eat?
That’s Gonneke. “Sometimes I ask at home what they would like. Otherwise it always ends up being the same. I also regularly make new recipes that I adapt a little myself – my daughter is not allowed lactose and my mother is not allowed gluten, lactose, eggs and a number of other things. But I think that is a nice challenge.”
Best tip for household or finances?
Erik: “We don’t have a joint account. I pay all fixed costs. I transfer household money to Gonneke for groceries.”
Gonneke: “I still have my income from the council.”
Erik: “Many arguments in relationships are about money. We both have our own money that you can do whatever you want with. That works great.”
