Our Bold Path to Prosperity

My grandmother; Erna Weber was born to Muslim parents on May 1, 1910, in Banjuwangi; a port city located near the Bali Strait on Java; the fourth largest island of Indonesia, the heart of the nation, boasting a dazzling array of bewitching landscapes, magical archaeological sites, iridescent rice paddies, smoking volcanoes and rainforests, it is an island of mesmerizing natural beauty with profound traditions in art, music, dance, and cuisine. Erna, was at a young age when her parents divorced and her mother Sophia re-married Samuel, a Christian man who adopted Erna and changed her last name to Jellema. The Jellema family moved to the tropical jungle island of Borneo; the third largest island in the world, where the pace of life was relaxed and natural. At the age of sixteen, Erna married Willem Francis Mattheus Berends, they bore three children. Their daughter Ana Sophia Amalia (“ASA”or “Aasje,” as I called my aunt) was born on September 11, 1927, in Singkawang; known as the “City of a Thousand Temples” for the many temples found in the city and it’s surroundings. After the birth of their daughter, the Berends family returned to Java, where my mother; Evie Hendrika was born in the city of Banjuwangi, on April 19, 1929, followed by the birth of her brother, my Uncle Gerrit Hendrikus (nicknamed “Noke”) two years later. My father; Thierry Adriaan de Ruyter (Ted), was born on June 19, 1924, in the city of Djombang, Java; near the birthplace of my mother. These exceptional Dutch-Indonesian people, made strong by the horrors they survived during Indonesia’s Wars for Independence, made passionate by their optimism and courage to create new beginnings, were the backbone of my family and accordingly, the significant influence of my childhood which shaped my character as an adult. I was born Linda Joyce de Ruyter on January 29, 1951, in Java’s capital city of Surabaya, once the largest city in the Dutch East Indies. Throughout my life, I shared my heart and soul with my younger sister; Ellen. From the day she took her first breath, we were kindred spirits. Despite the miles that divided us as adults, our hearts remained inseparable. This is the compelling true story of my life as a refugee immigrant child from Indonesia to Holland; a tiny country on the continent of Europe and ultimately to the United States; a world power country on the continent of North America. It is the story of our search for a better life, as told by my loving mother and grandmother while I was growing up and as I remember living it with my younger sister. Although the dates sometimes may not be historically accurate, the experiences are true and consequently, the deep emotion with which I composed these chapters was genuine and gut wrenchingly heartfelt.