‘People break up too quickly when it’s just as difficult’

Sjaak Hunnekens has produced four generations, his first great-great-grandchild is 1.5 years young. With the exception of one grandchild, all of his 38 descendants live in North Limburg, within a radius of 15 kilometers from the 100-year-old paterfamilias. He still lives independently and does his small errands himself, a year ago by car, nowadays on a scooter. Before Hunnekens sets off, he first explains his rules for the interview: ‘I wanted to do it like this: I start with an introduction, then you can ask me questions. If I don’t want to answer, I shut up.’

Fine, I’ll listen to your introduction

‘My name is Sjaak Hunnekens and I was born on August 12, 1921 in Beringe. The rest is up to you.’

Is it time for the first question yet?

“Yeah, come on.”

What else do you enjoy?

‘On everything: gardening, the computer, the TV. I no longer sit on my laptop every day like I used to write emails to my children and look up recipes, but I still occasionally. I like to watch sports on TV: Formula 1 with Max Verstappen, he comes from around here. And I like football, including women’s football. I watch every match of the European Championship this month. My favorite player is Lieke Martens, who also comes from this region. Her parents came to the supermarket in Bergen, where I worked. It’s a pity that Lieke dropped out, she injured her foot.’

What do you think of the Dutch women’s team?

‘The level is high. I really enjoy watching women’s football. Men can suck at it. Men play more fiercely, but are allowed to take an example from the mentality of women. If one of them hits her on the field and falls, she immediately gets up, strokes her thigh with her hand and continues playing. A man makes a lot of drama in such a situation and often a stretcher has to be involved. Women collect more easily.’

Are you also someone who would rather take cash than make drama?

‘I’m going to keep going and not look back, that’s no use anyway. What has been has been.’

Does that also work with losing loved ones, such as your wife and two sons?

‘No, I do not think so.’

How have you seen your daily life change over the past century?

‘From poverty to abundance. Today’s abundance is not appreciated. People think it’s normal that you put the laundry in a machine, add soap, press the button, take it out a little later and you’re done. My mother spent hours every day washing everything by hand for a family of eleven.’

Can you describe the poverty in your early years?

“There was nothing, nothing at all. We worked to eat. We got clothes from cousins ​​and they passed from one to the other in our family. If a piece of clothing was broken or worn, my mother would mend it. We were home with nine children, I was the oldest, and I had four brothers and four sisters.

‘We had a small farm with a cow, a few pigs, chickens and we grew rye, oats, barley, potatoes and vegetables like beets, Brussels sprouts and kale. That was enough for the eleven to eat, not enough to sell anything. Because we had to be frugal with our food, we shared what we had fairly. Everyone got half an egg. Luckily we lived near a forest. When the firewood ran out, we cut down a tree.

‘The wood-burning stove also served as a stove for our house. Once a week we were washed in an iron tub: then we all stood in a row, one by one we were allowed to go into the water and ready. We all went into the same bathwater. We didn’t know any better and it was the same everywhere, except with the big farmers.’

Could you continue learning?

‘No, later I did miss the general knowledge you acquire in high school. I never learned a foreign language. Work had to be done because there was poverty. As a child I helped on the farm. After primary school I had to work as a servant on another farm. I lived internally with the farmer, that was one less mouth to feed at home. On Sunday I was free and I was allowed to go home. Then we all went to the Catholic Church.

‘I earned 70 guilders in a whole year. I had to hand that over to my parents, because the money was desperately needed. On Sunday I got a few cents, if I had saved 25 cents, I secretly bought cigarettes from it, a pack of Dushkind. My first cigarette made me very nauseous, but I continued anyway. I smoked from age 13 to 97, every day. Only during Lent I did not smoke for a fortnight. Then I was happy when the Easter bells rang, I could light another one.’

Why did you stop smoking three years ago?

(He points to some black spots on the wooden floor next to his wide chair.) ‘I had fallen asleep while smoking, the cigarette fell to the floor next to me. The smoke woke me up, luckily there was no fire yet. Imagine what would have happened if I had stayed the night. I stepped on the smoking spots with my foot and said to myself: nondeju, and now it’s over. I never touched a single cigarette and never missed it.’

Only 20 percent of all people over 100 in the Netherlands are male, which is probably a result of the smoking epidemic among men of your generation, researchers think.

“Even though I’ve smoked every day for 84 years, there’s nothing wrong with me. I only take 1 tablet. Only walking is getting a bit difficult, that’s why I have a scooter. I was driving a car a year ago. On my 100th birthday I drove to the party. My doctor was there too and he said he’d never seen a 100-year-old drive a car before. After my birthday I thought I should stop. If something goes wrong, it’s my family. So then I bought a scooter, those are my best legs now.’

Have you always remained a farmer?

‘No. After a few years as a farmhand I couldn’t take it anymore, I wanted something different. I saw an ad for the Coop, a grocery store. They asked for a delivery person. That deserved better than working on the farm. I applied and was accepted. When a customer had indicated which goods he wanted to buy, I delivered the groceries at home, with a horse and a cart.

‘That was before the war. During the war I was hiding on a farm with five boys, so I became a farmhand again. From the attic window I could see men digging trenches, forced labor I would otherwise have had to do. After the liberation I could go back to the Coop, I rose to become a manager. But my income was not enough to make ends meet with a family of six children. That’s why I kept pigs, sixty in all, at our house for sale. I also grew vegetables and fruit for my family.’

You were a workhorse from a young age, it sounds like

‘It was hard work, six days a week from early in the morning until late at night, just like my father. It just happened. I’ve always enjoyed doing it. At 57 I took early retirement for my wife To. She was in poor health. She was often very tired and suffered from open legs. They had to be connected every day.

It took years for doctors to discover that she had heart problems. After the surgery, I decided to stop working to take care of To. You are there for each other, for better or for worse. You see that less and less these days. People break up too quickly when the going gets tough. I don’t understand that, because that’s exactly what it comes down to. To died 22 years ago, aged 78.’

And then all of a sudden you were alone

“I couldn’t stand that, so I got a dog and named him Bonnie. One evening we went for a walk. Bonnie insisted on going to the neighbor two houses away, I couldn’t stop him. Once there, it turned out that there were burglars working inside. I immediately called the police and then helped the neighbor to settle the case. That’s how I got to know Nellie. We got into a relationship and were together for another 7.5 years and made many nice trips and holidays, until she passed away thirteen years ago.’

Is there anything you have changed your mind about in your lifetime?

(Resolutely:) ‘The church. He taught me about everything. Faith was there to keep people in check, but that is not necessary at all. Everyone can live their own life. I still watch Mass every Sunday, on church TV. I don’t want to say more about it. Those are my own thoughts, I keep them to myself.’