Dear Friends, (1)

You folks must have said or thought, Lieuwe de Vries (2) forgot all about us. That last evening before we left, in the old house of your hometown, he had promised to write us .
Now it is about time to write. I turned 61 years of age on March 20 whereas my wife will be 61 years on October 4. I could start with the old days when we and your good parents lived at the mieden (3) and we were still together in our younger years but where would I end up? You will remember those days and at present we are still in good health.

We have been spared misfortune sofar. Had four children, three of them are still alive.
Maartje (4) married a son of Lieuwe Poortinga. They live at Hallumerhoek and have three children. Jelle is married to a grandchild of Gosse Jensma and they live at our place at the mieden. Have one child. Furthermore Meindert, married to a daughter of Jorrit Bierma and they have three boys. He is farmer at Lichtaard at a place formerly known as “de Kempenaar”. It is right next to the road and perhaps your wife Wypkje may recall it. It still looks much the same but has been remodelled.

Recently I have bought some more land, 20 pondemaat (5) including a house which has been remodelled, the house where you were born. A farmhand is living there now. A great pleasure because with servants it isn’t the way it used to be when you were still living here. Farmers hardly have any servants anymore because servants couldn’t care less.
We live in Hallum near the mill neighbourhood in a house once built by widow Jans Stienstra and next to the house where Klaas Lettinga and his wife used to live. We had to get used to the quite life but one has to adjust which, as you know, I have learned at a young age. Sofar we have no complaints what-so-ever which is a blessing.

Currently the 10 pondemaat of land  belonging to the home of A. Hoekstra, now G. Hoekstra, is for sale and an offer was made of 800 guilders per pondemaat including costs. Land is expensive here these days. Rijpstra’s farmland was fairly cheap at the time when I bought half of the 6 pondemaat after he passed away. Now it is much more expensive.

The duck-decoy gives my son Jelle a good living. I have cleaned it when I was there the other day and a lot of mud came out. Good for the fields alongside the decoy. Last year Jelle did well and caught a lot. Apart from that he is doing well too. Tjalle Boersma still lives at the place and rented it to him again. He still is widower.

Well my friend Gerrit and Wypkje, we could write much more but where would it stop? Hallum has changed a lot. The local railway track goes across it and there is a steamship these days. Horse pulled boats and coaches are gone.
We always had in mind “Gerrit will come over some day”. Maaike Reitsma and her son visited us last year and would have liked to stay in Hallum, as she said. The generous friendship and equality between your brother Jan (6) and us has just about disappeared for which Maaike is to blame, as you know. Maaike talks too much and the children, in particular the youngest one Dirkje, has the same problem. All three have lived with us and at the time of selling the house things went wrong.

Well friend, enclosed is a picture of us hoping that you will receive it in good health and enjoy it. We thank you for your picture which we will cherish.

Greetings from your old friends.

L.M. de Vries
Janke Miedema