alien

Now I don't feel 'old' but it feels several lifetimes ago that I was born in an upstairs room at my great-grandparents' home in the Netherlands. My parents named me Margo Janet after my grandparents Margje, Marrigje and Jan, but when my dad went to city hall to proudly register his first born, the name Margo did not appear on the 'list of approved names'. Seriously. He was forced to officially have me written down as Margot.

the house on the right

From there, I spend a happy childhood (in spite of the added t) in various towns and cities and onto my last Dutch hometown Utrecht, where I went to college. And yes, for those of you who wonder about this, I did learn to walk in wooden shoes called klompen.

Utrecht, Oude Gracht

Thijs was born there, a few blocks away from where his paternal grandfather was born.  All at home, yes.

Utrecht, achter de Dom

My love and I  like to travel and explore. So we started moving to other countries. First, Germany, where Vera and Emma joined our family (unfortunately not born at home, a decision I will regret forever). To be honest, I was not thrilled about moving to Germany. Yet I loved it there and was very,very sad when we moved on to the next country, the United States. And that's where we stayed. Life has been good to us here. At first, we were poor. That was euphemistically speaking 'difficult'. I learned a lot.

Dutch flag with orange wimpel

We've met people from all over the world. We've adapted dishes and customs into our household. Still, what is most familiar to me after all these years and exposure to many cultures, is the Dutch landscape and experience. We've been back, and things do change, but in the end, I'm Dutch. 100%, I believe- I have not found any other ancestry in either line of forefathers/foremothers.

Enschede

If I could have been a dual citizen, I would have become one a long time ago. It makes sense, for example, to be able to vote where I live. And now I can. I became an American. On paper. And I will forever feel ambivalent about this. I wonder what my dad would think about this, and I think he really wouldn't like it. But this he would like: I was given the opportunity to change my name, and I took it. My American name is what my parents intended to name me, Margo Janet Ramaker.