'War baby' meets her family

Page 8

Geery Grotte of Zwolle, the Netherlands, has been fortunate to have

three men in her life who have loved her very much.

Her father, Lawrence L'Hirondelle, a Metis Canadian Second World War

veteran, gave her life and kept her baby picture with him until his

death.

Her adopted Dutch father, Rinze, loved her as his own.

And in May, Geery's husband, Henk, traveled with her halfway around the

world so she could discover more about her Metis relatives.

Doreen L'Hirondelle of Calgary, Lawrence's oldest Canadian daughter,

met Geery and Henk at the Calgary International Airport when they

stepped off a flight from Holland on May 3.

"I think for about an hour there was this discomfort and then after

that, she was my sister," said Doreen.

For the next two weeks, the Dutch couple were hugged and welcomed by

about 50 members of the L'Hirondelle family in Calgary, Edmonton and

Dawson Creek, B.C.

"We now have met the whole family, "said Geery, who admitted some of

those reunions were tearful. " I felt so much in common."

Those things in common, added Henk are "very special things--things

like being shy, being very sensitive, enjoying life..."

Geery, 50 married with two adult children, first stumbled upon the

truth about her Canadian father when, as a 14-year-old girl, she found

some of her mother's old letters.

When she asked her parents who Larry was, her mother acted very

confused. Her Dutch father refused to discuss the matter.

"I didn't know what to think because I loved my Dutch father very

much," said Geery "..I was his favorite daughter so how could I know."

Not until Geery was in her mid-thirties did she start asking questions

again. This time, with Henk's support, she began a quest , that lasted

more than 10 years, to find her paternal father.

"If you don't know your whole family, you can't reflect yourself," sad

Henk, explaining Geery's persistence.

Eventually, in late 1993, one of Geery's aunts told her the last name

of her Canadian father and a bit about him. A Dutch organization,

Children of the Liberation, located the L'Hirondelle family in Alberta

within two weeks. Unfortunately, Lawrence had passed away in 1977.

Geery is one of more than 6,000 "liberation" babies born of Canadian,

British, American and German soldiers shortly after the war. Unlike

many of those post-Second World War babies, Geery was able to trace her

father.

Lawrence L'Hirondelle of Lac Ste Anne, Alta. was conscripted at age 18

and served in Europe as a gunner with the First Canadian Army.

In 1945, the First Canadian Army liberated about three-quarters of

Holland from Nazi occupation and impending mass starvation. About 7,600

of L'Hirondelle's Canadian comrades died in that fight to free Holland.

"He wanted to get married to my mother," said Geery, but it appears her

mother's parents were against the marriage.

(Several thousand Dutch women, however, did come to Canada to marry

Canadian soldiers. Within 10 years after the war, more than 100,000

Dutch citizens emigrated to Canada from their war-ravaged homeland.)

Lawrence, who eventually married at age 31, was an expert fiddler and

top jig dancer, recalls Doreen, the oldest of the eight L'Hirondelle

children. "He really had the culture."

Geery and Henk phoned the L'Hirondelles in late 1993 and exchanged

photos and letters. The Dutch couple, however, didn't visit Canada

right away.

"I needed more than a year to get over it that he had passed away,"

Geery said. "I thought he was alive."

The L"Hirondelle family also needed time to mourn. "(My father) would

have been so happy," said Doreen. "It probably would have been of the

biggest event in his life."

Geery's coming to Canada solved the "missing link," in her family,

Doreen added, referring to Geery's baby photo which her father

treasured.

"We were really surprised her family was Metis," added Henk. "We are

very excited about it."

The L'Hirondelle family were also eager to share their heritage,

loading down the Dutch couple with Metis books, photos, ifts and a

video during their two-week visit to Canada.

But the sweetest Metis memento of all--Geery's baby photo--remains with

the L'Hirondelle family.

"Aunt Emilia kept that photo of me with (my) little boots from Canada,"

said Geery.

Geery's son Peter may see that photo soon. Once his parents returned

home and presented him with a Metis sash, he phoned the L'Hirondelles

right away. Now he wants to try to visit Canada this summer.