I too Marina Parisi, maiden name Marina Broos have spent time at St Anna kinder tehuis Eindhoven, together with my four year older sister Marielle Broos.
We were there from 1961 until 1965 ,I myself was 3 years old and my sister was 7 years old.
Our care taker nun was Soeur tuanaciata , strict but a sweetheart, I remember that it was just before we left there that the nuns were allowed to wear normal clothing as well, and their names changed , Soeur tuanaciata became juffrouw Jorotte , a few nuns even put being a nun down and continued as miss instead of Soeur.
After the eventually SHOCK of being left there with these weird looking and speaking ( French) people,and the fact that our mother was leaving without us, I have nothing but wonderful memories about that time at St Anna .
I have experienced MORE love and CARING than I had had from my mother or my older sister or family for that matter.
Just like Tilly Daanen,I had a fabulous time, I did not know the security and the healthy love before as what was given there, the nuns were sweet, funny and caring.
After getting used to having to stay there ,I started to like the sleeping with all my new friends in the enormous wards with the baby’s ( like me) in a crib on the side wall, all the other single beds from the middle out to the side of the long walls, were for the older kids and behind the single beds of them were chambrettes , little cubicles with a curtain in front, these were for the teenage girls so that they had some privacy .
Bathtime was sharing the bath one after the other in the same bath water but hey, I was used to being washed in a zinc tub in the sink , this was a BATH
I remember as well that the bath rubs were almost painful,scrubbing all the dirt off lol.
I too remember our camping times at the farm and the sleeping in the cleaned animal troughs covered with wonderful smelling straw , what fun , at the last morning of our camping I remember that they would slice French breads in half length wise , butter it and each kid could chose their very own toppings , of course some meat and cheese had to be chosen as well , so every 4 cm would have a different topping , never ever forgetting that,so cool .
Sinterklaas would ride the presents on the long tables omgoshhhhh soooo exciting especially when he came by for a visit , I never knew how he found out I broke my glasses hehe. That was also a time parents could come and visit.
Hey Tilly do you remember “lichtjes dag “ in Eindhoven , they would take us in groups in the evening to watch all the wonderful light shows mesmerizing and so spectacular, well off course I was just a baby so maybe it was not all that big and enormous as I thought lol .
Afterwards there were fire works and I remember Soeur tuanaciata holding me up in front of her bedroom window to see the fireworks .
Breakfast was eating all together at LONGGGGG tables , one of the nuns would always walk by with a bottle of those davitamon vitamins in it and would toss a pill in your hot porridge ( lammetjes pap I believe) my aim was always to try and get the damn thing out before the sugar coating was melted off and the horrible bitter taste of the pill would ruin your entire bowl of porridge , don’t think I ever succeeded.
When still very little I was allowed to go into the bread room in the kitchen when one of the nurses would be cutting the fresh baked bread, my oh my I can still smell it and can actually still hear those big bread slicers roaring , I remember sitting at the end of the bread slicer on the floor patiently waiting for the little fresh baked bread caps fall off , still warm and CRUNCHY , sometimes they would even put some butter on
And than the play ground , mannnn did I love that , the “ schuitjes” swings , we would swing SOOOOO high that the poles would move of the ground I believe they had them put in concrete after a while , I still remember what we were singing , ok here we go!!
Hope I still get it right hehe.
we gingen door the luncht
Al met een diepe zucht ,
We zaten zo gezellig in a schuihuitje ,
En niemand kon ons zien
We hadden pret voor tien,
Lang leve the zeppeliehiehiehien
I’ve puked many many times and….cried when the boys would take us Toooo high lol
I remember, I think his name was Leon , jumping off the shed in the back yard and breaking a leg.
BEST time of my life, my four year older sister was no help to me ever, she would use me to take the rap for shit that she pulled , ridicule and tease me together with other kids instead of stepping up and taking care of me, but hey when being “home” that was all I had , now I had loads of friends , I had LOVE and was taken care of, it’s funny I didn’t think I would remember so much but now writing I could go on and on lol .
I wish my birth mother would have left me there , because it was super rough leaving and being in a non caring environment again and being in a situation of abuse and later just being a key kid .
Also Leon ( don’t know your last name but you were this cutie with milk blond hair )If you are on here , YOU walked me down the isle at church when we did do our first communion , I still have some pictures of that but since we are in the middle of a move all is packed away, I will add them when I find them .
Ok I guess I will leave it here for now, otherwise I will have to start paying author rights lol .
Hope that someone can remember all this goodness from above.
Ah and a little side note that I love was that when we were picked up again to live with my mother, Soeur tuanaciata…..juffrouw Jorotte now became my Aunty Arlette.
For may many years in our lives we became good friends
Marina Parisi ( Broos)
1. In the middle on the right hand side is Soeur Tuanaciata.