As If Born To ~ Grown Under Their Hearts

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 34 (CHOSEN FAMILY)

By the time I was 8 years old I had 2 dads.
The 1970s were well known for the high divorce rates so we weren't unique.
What was unique is that my brother and I were accepted into our new extended family 'as if born to' without a formal process. We were never adopted. 
A by-product of the high divorce rates of the 70s was that many children grew up without a father to love and care for them. 
We were blessed.
We had two fathers who loved us.

How did we become part of the Boogemans family? 
You can read all about it here 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 19 (Nurture)

This part of the tale all started during our journey across Canada. We moved from British Columbia to Ontario during the spring I was about 8 and a half years old. My brother was soon going to be 6. That trip happened in an orange Volkswagon Camper Van that started on fire somewhere in the prairies. Our new dad was a heavy duty mechanic and welder, and somehow fixed all that was damaged in such a short time our trip wasn't delayed too much. 

On that long journey our new dad taught us to say 'How are you?' in Flemish 

"Oe ’wis’t met jou?". 

We practiced for the entire journey wanting to say it exactly right.
He corrected our pronunciation showing us how to hold our mouths just right.

When we met our new grandparents for the first time I smiled and said 
"Oe ’wis’t met jou?".  My grandma got super excited with the biggest smile and said to my dad " you found a nice Flemish girl". I was so proud that my pronunciation was perfect enough to make her believe we were Flemish. 

I immediately loved my new grandparents. They both had the warmest smiles. 

They always looked like they were ready to get into mischief, and let us join in.

Grandpa used to feed us cookie sandwiches.
They were made with windmill spice cookies served between two slices of buttered white bread sprinkled with brown sugar.
Grandma would complain that we shouldn't be eating such things.
We knew she didn't mind when she continued to smile.
We loved visiting grandma and grandpa on the farm. 

The roots of this chosen family began in Belgium when two people who probably weren't really supposed to get married did. 
One was a Walloon (Grandpa) and one a Flem (Grandma).
You can read more about this in the article 
An Introduction To The Flemish-Walloon Divide in the sources below.

As a small girl I was enamored by the story or how love conquered.
Against these odds my grandparents were:

Frans Boogemans

BIRTH 30 OCT 1910 • Belgium

DEATH 15 MAR 2000 • Exeter, Huron, Ontario, Canada

and

Emma Louisa Florentina Van Loo

BIRTH 18 MAR 1910 • Heist Op Den Berg, Antwerpen, Belgium

DEATH 18 DEC 1988 • Dashwood, Ontario, Canada

They were married on October 23rd 1937 in Heist Op Den Berg, Belgium.

They had 5 sons.
My dad was their youngest, and the prettiest.
The only one with brown hair in a family of redheads.
That's him in his mom's arms. 

They lived in this beautiful house in Heist Op Den Berg, Belgium.

In June 1955 the Boogemans family immigrated to Ontario, Canada
leaving all of their extended family members behind. 
This photo was taken shortly before they departed to Canada.
It includes Frans' parents and siblings.

The family of 7 settled onto farmland in Dashwood, Ontario.
They built their new house (pictured below) to look very much like
the home they left behind in Belgium.

This photo was taken on one of their trips to B.C. to see us.
Grandma, Grandpa, my dad, my brother, and myself.

When Grandpa died I wrote a poem, and asked a cousin to read it at the funeral.
The only line I remember is 'As if born to - we grew under your hearts'.
I wish I had kept a copy of that poem. 
I have written quite a few poems over the years.
I never kept a copy of any of them.

Frans & Emma together at rest. 
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The dad who chose me when I was 8 years old is a part of who I am today. 



Blood is only one part of the family equation!







This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
















***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***






Sources:

An Introduction To The Flemish-Walloon Divide. Van De Poel, Nana. Culture Trip. Published November 24th 2016. Retrieved August 23rd 2020 from

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/belgium/articles/an-introduction-to-the-flemish-walloon-divide/

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

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