The above is what Pieter wrote after reading my 17 letters to family and friends. He would then fold them into their envelope, seal it and put a stamp on for putting inside mailbox to be picked up, with the red flag raised.
About time for sharing this special speech by husband Pieter, delivered on the 4th of July at the Dublin stadion before fireworks.
If watching video click on CC Closed Caption!
Pieter has written several speeches in his life time and he spoke at The International Society for Mushroom Science (ISMS) Congress numerous times.
Always in a foreign language though...
~
The 4th of July 1994
Thanks for the kind introduction; now you know almost all about the two of us.
For the introduction of a speaker a typical question always is, what is exactly your title?
In a certain booklet we found that there is actually no prouder title than to be an American Citizen.
Although the weather is not cooperating too well, today we have something really important to celebrate as you all know we celebrate Uncle Sam's 218th Birthday, the birth of this great nation.
In the introduction, you have heard that we are new Americans, although we came to this country already in 1983.
My wife's love–affair with the United States started in April of 1983; her very first visit to the New World.
Some Campbell Soup people taught her at that time some history by visiting Rockford (Grand Rapids), Michigan, where President Ford grew up. They thought maybe she was homesick and thus they brought her to Holland in Michigan.
She was not homesick but just absorbing all she could about this fascinating New World.
One of the highlights was the visit to Chestnut Street in Philadelphia; to the Independence Hall—the home of the Liberty Bell, a shrine of Patriotism for all Americans.
There we learned more about Life with a capital 'L' and also about Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The next day we flew to Dublin, Georgia and there we fell deeper and deeper in love with the New World.
So, in August of 1983, we came to live here.
This was Our Pursuit of Happiness.
Last year we got our American Citizenship and since then we can say: we are Dutch by birth and Americans by choice, and we are proud of both.
There are a couple of reasons for that pride. Maybe you didn't know, but the Dutch, of any nation, have the longest uninterrupted friendly relationship with the U.S. and for sure we like to keep it that way.
It was on November 16 in 1776, that the Fort on the Dutch Island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean returned the salute from the American warship Andrea Dorea, as it entered the harbor.
This was the first salute by a foreign power to the flag of the United States of America.
As the history books say: this was a very courageous action by the Dutch, and it enhanced the diplomatic credibility of the United States of America.
It also gave a strong boost to the moral of the revolutionary troops.
So, today it is 218 years ago that the U.S. has been founded.
In the Dutch tradition, Birthdays always are important events, often celebrated with an all–day open house, birthday gifts etc.
A good question, not only for us but for all immigrants could be: 'Why did you come to the U.S.?
What did we expect to find here what we eventually didn't have in the country where we lived before?
Although a lot of things have changed since then, the answer will be more or less identical to what brought the founding fathers to this of the world over 200 years ago.
The most important reason for them was the freedom and the space to live in the broadest sense.
The freedom to believe in God in different ways; the freedom to have your own opinion, the opportunity to develop yourself up to the limits etc.
On this Birthday we should never forget that the Founding Fathers, and after them numerous immigrants, have for sure not chosen the easiest way. They didn't find a paradise; they just found a place with almost unlimited opportunities, but they had to be explored.
Very important also is that their Freedom was based on a STRONG MORAL AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
That, in combination with hard work, made this country into what it is today; in our opinion the best country to live in.
We have a number of good reasons to make this statement.
As you perhaps know, or picked up from the introduction, for our job we traveled and still do, all over the world and lived in several countries.
We lived in Dublin, Georgia from 1983 through 1988 and after that in Italy and Indonesia.
We more and more discovered what a great country the U.S. is to live in; we got homesick and looked for every opportunity to return.
With O'Henry we can say, "You can't appreciate home 'till yu've left it... or old glory 'till you see it hanging on a broomstick on the shanty of a consul in a foreign town."
We think Americans in general don't realize how blessed they are, too many things we just take for granted.
Especially the younger generation should realize that it hasn't been always this good, just travel the world and find out how spoiled in fact we are.
As the Founding Fathers long time ago, we've found our real happiness in this country.
We often have to answer the question why we've chosen to live in America.
We think we are able to give a reasonable answer because we can compare.
Our standard answer to that question is: The U.S. is for sure not paradise and not the ideal society because it is built up by some 250 million human beings. But traveling over the world, we can assure you that you will have a hard time to find a better place to live. Therefore, we have good reasons to be thankful and to celebrate the Birthday of this great nation.
Like in the Dutch tradition, we should not come to a Birthday party with empty hands; one has to carry a gift.
What kind of a gift could we come up with for the Birthday of our country?
The most appropriate gift in our opinion would be that we promise to contribute our share in what the Founding Fathers once started.
They worked hard to develop this country, made it prosperous and a better place to live for everybody. They installed and maintained high moral values, based on a strong believe in God.
They've shown the world that they could handle their freedom.
Our forefathers didn't contribute frivolous gifts to this country.
So, let's celebrate this Birthday of our nation not only with a spectacular firework but let us wrap up a big box for Uncle Sam, containing:
A huge amount of humility, a lot of tolerance, respect for each other and patience, the most of integrity and compassion and a strong will to share freely with others.
Finally, after so many years we went to Atlanta for the ceremony of PIETER'S OATH OF ALLEGIANCE
Friday, 23 April, was a special day.
It was exactly 10 years ago that we first entered Dublin on Saturday, 23 April, 1983 on Campbell's private plane, a Learjet. Brother Piet Van den Munckhof's birthday...
This time we got up at 4:30 AM and drove to Atlanta at 5:30 AM to be in time at the Civic Centre. Everything went well, although around 7:30 AM it became very busy on the 10-lane Interstate through the city. It was morning–rush–hour in a city of 2.5 million, so you can expect something like this.
But we were parked on time in the large parking lot diagonally opposite the Civic Centre. Then a short walk. It was windy and also cool. At 4:30 AM it was only 2°C or 35.6°F! There were hundreds of people walking towards the Civic Centre, so we weren't the only ones. The doors didn't open until 8:30 AM and people were spoken to, for telling them what and where to go. The visitors, such as family members, had to go upstairs and those who had a call from the Immigration Office had to pick up their certificate at the tables with the last three numbers of their green card. So if your U.S. green card ended in 103, for example, then you had to go in the line of 100–200.
There were 1,800 people gathered that morning, all of whom had to go through the official mill and then go in to take place downstairs. Of course, that took hours. At 11:00 AM, the room was almost filled and the judges began the ceremony. First, an introduction by the Deputy District Director of USINS Atlanta District (United States Immigration and Naturalization Service). Then the National Anthem was sung standing up and the welcome speech by yet another high–ranking person. Then a speech by William Porter 'Billy' Payne, President and CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
He addressed the group, those 1,800 people gathered from as many as 77 countries!!! That's when the 1,800 candidates for U.S. Citizenship were officially sworn in by the District Director. Some final comments and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. A great event that caused quite a stir... Many shed tears. The President of the Olympic Games Committee said in his speech that he had been to 75 countries and that people often asked what was so special about this country. He said, "The United States" is the only country in the world where they accept all the people of the whole world as emigrants.
That's why it works, the United States is in fact, a reflection of the total world population. Everyone lives and works together here in a country with enormous freedoms, enormous opportunities—the American Dream.
The Atlanta T.V. recorded the entire ceremony.
So as of Friday, April 23, Pieter J.C. Vedder is now an American citizen. Within a few months, Mariette A.M. Van den Munckhof-Vedder will also be sworn in. Here in America, you use your birth name first, before your spouse's. Which makes sense, because this is also the order in which you obtained your names.
This is where Pieter stayed and wrote this letter...
Thursday, 3rd December 1992
Dear lady,
It is possible that this letter arrives at the same time as me, but it is still worth trying; I think it would be nice for you to hear something from Bombay. (I changed my pen for a moment, because this one from the hotel rattled in its holder!). I've generally traveled well; from Amsterdam I had seat 9B so you know where I was, first row behind Royal class. We got no present, to speak with Dora, but we also have enough bags and toothpaste etc., I had already bought at Schiphol. The Ibis Hotel at Schiphol is a typical KLM place to stay; neat but nothing special.
No shampoo or anything like that, but good breakfast included (also well doable for $ 76.00). I left the leather jacket at Schiphol; it is not worn here in India anyway and then it only is a burden. The flight for Papa wasn't too bad for me; with a 10% discount for the elderly, for fl 1,074. Hopefully everyone stays healthy etc. so that he can really benefit from it for a month, I will find some work for him so he doesn't have to get bored. As mentioned, the flight to Mumbai went smoothly, we arrived on time, i.e. at about 23:30h. It took a long time before the red–white–blue banded suitcase finally appeared.
Customs didn't even look at me and there was someone from Pond's with a sign in his hand for Dr. Veddar. This hotel is quintessentially Indian; fancy if you don't look too sharply, that is. From what I saw last night from the airport to the hotel, it is at least as bad, if not worse than in the other cities. What poverty and rubbish along the road. We cannot realize enough how privileged we are. Most people who don't get any further than Horst or Dublin, for example, don't know what they're talking about, so you can't really blame them.
It is now 7:30 am, I woke up early, probably as a result of the time difference. The breakfast was typical continental but our problem is definitely not that we get too little, especially after such a flight. I'm writing right now with a cup of coffee next to me, so what more could a person want. I still have some time to kill; they come to pick me up at 9:30 am for the 11:00 am flight to Coimbatore, where we might arrive about 1–1.5 hours later. This way of traveling, i.e. with enough time between flights (sounds like mushroom language) is much less stressful. It's strange not to have you with me; we were so used to that by now.
I hope for both of us that time alone will not be too long for us. Of course, a little dispensing is allowed from time to time, then you will appreciate being together so much better later on. I'm looking forward to a few quiet weeks together and I hope Marion won't disturb this idea; at least I will do everything in my power to prevent that. Maybe that's why it would have been better to call them yesterday, then I might have heard something already, but I thought, Marion isn't here anyway and to just listen to Dora's ramblings for a few guilders didn't really appeal to me. I'll see them next Sunday when I'm alive and well. I assume you've been busy sewing and traveling to Macon and Atlanta (with Somai among others). Hopefully the weather was nice so you could enjoy the garden, including birds, squirrels etc.
Hopefully you'll have a great Rotary Club Lady's night too; I'm curious to see who will take care of you. I will think of you often sweetheart, of everything in this world you mean the most to me, but you already knew that! Lots of love and greetings from Mumbai and in the not too distant future you will hear from me again.
I've just come off the phone and so we've already exchanged most of the news but there's always something to say. My beautiful fountain pen is empty and I don't have any cartridges with me, so I have to use the ballpoint pen again. Indeed, calling Germany is a difficult matter, either you are not in the room (at least that's what they say) or the line is cut off or something.
So we'll just wait until I can tell you everything in person on Saturday afternoon and listen to how you have fared in these 2 weeks. I think it's good that you have a free weekend and don't come back and forth to Horst. At least this way you get some rest and you certainly deserve it. Up so early every morning (5:00 AM) and in action all day and in a different language. Nice fax from Barbara and Max; So you see that real friends always know where to find you, I hope we can meet before we go, so we can catch up.
It's strange that I hardly thought about Italy all week. Of course, there were all kinds of things to do so that a) the day is relatively short and b) the funeral also took away another day. I am happy with the successful slides of Fransman from Heijen; I know Camsco is interested in that. Of course I hope that travel, mushroom farm visit and seminar go well, I will try to catch up with you on Thursday evening (around 15:00 your time), if it works out; otherwise a day later. If I have time in Chicago, I'll write Hank Young a note, although with such a group of old acquaintances in the neighborhood, it won't give you many free evenings.
Hopefully you like the stuff I bought, I've used all my trading talents (if I have any). For a mixer tap set (thermostatic) with shower, we have to look around a bit (possibly also in Italy) and otherwise we can take it with us in January. I'm going to update the diary a bit sweetie, so you'll have to make do with this. Goodbye darling from me, all the best and see you on Saturday. Goodbye sweet of me, your Pieter
