Rita en Kay

**************************
Op 10 september schreef ik in Rita en Ed over de jammerlijke afgang van Ed Sinke. Ik voorspelde in die column dat het daar niet bij zou blijven.

Wederom maakt een mobiele telefoon meer kapot dan.....................
Kay van der Linde bleek zelf een windbuil. Ook gebakken lucht stinkt.

Hoor Rita en haar TON
Met een plakbandje erom
Hard juichen, hard juichen
Maar haar TON die valt in duigen.

Service

Twee weken geleden kreeg ik weer eens post van de Nespressoclub. Daar zaten ondermeer twee tegoedbonnen van ieder 70,- bij - voor nieuwe machines. Geen kattepis.
Mijn Nespresso-apparaat is nog geen twee jaar oud en functioneert gelukkig nog prima. Dus kan ik anderen blij maken met deze gulle gift.

Twee weken geleden begaf ook de Aeroccino het. Ik gooide de melkschuimer weg omdat ik er niet vanuit ging dat daar nog garantie op zat.
Een vriendin verklaarde mij (terecht) voor gek. "Bel het servicenummer", was haar advies.

Afgelopen maandag deed ik dat en een vriendelijke medewerkster vroeg mij een kopie van de aankoopbon op te sturen.

Vanmorgen ging de bel en werd er een pakketje bezorgd. Van Nespresso.
Een spiksplinternieuwe, vernieuwde, vergrote Aeroccino.

Daar kan geen Sinterklaas of Kerstman tegenop.

Fun

Het Parool van vandaag.

Appelmoes

Eén van de favoriete gerechten van P. is gebakken lever. We eten het zo'n vier keer per jaar.
Mijn moeder gaf er altijd appelmoes bij. Als werkende vrouw maakte ze het zichzelf makkelijk. Er werd meestal een blik of pot opengerukt.

Mijn groentevrouw verkocht mij vandaag een bijzondere moesappel (Goudreinet):
Malus domestica oftewel de´Rode Boskoop´.
Ze vertelde mij dat deze appel wordt gebruikt door oliebollenkramen voor de appelbeignets, door restaurants voor de appelmoes, maar dat het ook een heerlijke handappel is.
Bij het schillen had ik door dat ik kwaliteit in mijn handen had.
Niet alleen wat betreft de structuur, maar ik rook ook daadwerkelijk appel.

Met een klein scheutje water zette ik de pan met stukjes appel op een middelhoog vuur. Na twintig minuten kon ik er met een garde een prachtige compacte appelmoes van roeren.
Ja, er is appelmoes en appelmoes.

Vandaag kookte ik de lekkerste appelmoes die ik ooit heb gemaakt.
En er is niets meer over voor de dorst.

Oversteken

*****************************
De Coolsingel oversteken is overdag nog wel te doen, mits je het zebrapad neemt. 's Avonds is het een levensgevaarlijke onderneming en kan je maar beter bij een verkeerslicht naar de overkant lopen. Het lijkt er op alsof rancuneuze automobilisten hun gram willen halen vanwege het vele stilstaan overdag.

Afgelopen vrijdagavond moest een 24-jarige Schiedammer de oversteek met zijn leven bekopen. Met lede ogen zagen wij vanaf de 28ste hoe politie en ambulance zich met het ongeluk bezig hielden.

Vanmiddag rond vijven stak een jonge vrouw in tegenovergestelde richting van mij het onbewaakte fietspad over. Ze werd gegrepen door een brommer. Het gebeurde op nog geen twee meter van waar ik stond. Het fietspad is zebraloos, dus feitelijk moeten de voetgangers wachten.

De vrouw had beter moeten (uit)kijken en de brommer reed misschien niet te hard, maar had zijn snelheid zeker niet aangepast aan de omstandigheden op de drukke Coolsingel.
Beiden maakten een behoorlijke smak, maar - na het zich later liet aanzien - kwamen zij met de schrik vrij.

In plaats van behulpzaam toe te schieten, vlogen omstanders de brommende jongeman bijna aan.
Ik bekommerde mij om het geschrokken meisje, dat alleen wat schaafwonden aan haar hand had.

"Godverdomme klootzak, je reed veel te hard".
"Als het mijn vrouw was geweest had ik je rotkop in elkaar geramt".
"Je zal boeten voor de gevolgen".
Etc, etc.

Ik probeerde tevergeefs de gemoederen te sussen. Vanwege de scheldpartijen over en weer barstte het meisje in een nerveus huilen uit.

Een oudere dame begon de jongen te vertellen wat hij moest doen wilde hij zichzelf "man" noemen. Een ander schold de vrouw uit voor "bemoeiteef".
Gelukkig maakte een patrouillebusje van de politie een eind aan het verbale geweld en werd de jongen bevrijd uit zijn benarde situatie.

Toen ik terugkwam van mijn boodschappen was het vuur gedoofd en zaten het meisje en de jongen vriendschappelijk in de warme politiebus.

Vraag is alleen: wanneer wordt de gemeente wakker.

Laat Rotterdams bekendste straat niet veranderen in Rotterdams beruchtste straat.

All the Presidents Wives 11

Julia Gardiner Tyler

Born:

May 4, 1820 - Gardiner’s Island, New York

Father:

Senator David Gardiner (d. 1844)

Mother:

Juliana McLachlan Gardiner

Siblings:

1 sister, 2 brothers. Margaret Gardiner, her younger sister, often stayed with Julia in the White House

Religion:

Episcopalian, later Roman Catholic

Physical Description:

She was 5’3" tall, with dark black hair, usually worn parted in the middle; gray eyes, beautiful shoulders and a good figure. She was flirtatious, prone to be indiscreet, and very daring for her day. Impulsive and reckless at times, the young Julia Gardiner was one who loved being "center stage."

Education:

Brought up in a world of money, wealth and position, Julia and her sister were educated at Madame N.D. Chagaray’s Institute for young ladies in New York City. Julia studied French, arithmetic, literature, history and composition. By fifteen, she was already seeking an advantageous marriage and was something of a trail to her staid parents. In 1839, at age nineteen, she allowed her image to be used for an advertisement for a dry goods store, under the title "The Rose of Long Island." Extremely angry, her parents took her to Europe where she added to her string of suitors and was presented to King Louis Philippe and Queen Marie Amelia. All the images of royalty that she saw gave the young Julia Gardiner a severe case of "Queen fever" that would be reflected during her time in the White House.
Husband: John Tyler (1790-1862)

Courtship and Marriage:

By 1841, Senator Gardiner’s two daughters had taken Washington by storm, so much so that, by 1843, he had to take a few extra rooms in their boarding house to entertain the gentlemen callers. Sometimes Julia entertained her guests by playing the guitar and singing. In 1842, she met her future husband at a White House reception. Between 1841 and 1844, Julia received proposals from no less than 2 Congressmen, one Supreme Court Justice and one from President Tyler, now a widower. Christmas Eve 1843 the Gardiner’s were invited to the White House. By February 1844, the gossips were making much of the friendship between President Tyler and Julia. Tragedy interrupted the talk. Dolley Madison had arranged a trip up the Potomac on the gunboat, The Princeton, on February 28, 1844. Among the guests were President Tyler, most of his cabinet, and the Gardiners. One of the guns that was fired while passing Mount Vernon exploded, killing the Secretary of State and Senator Daniel Gardiner, among others. Julia, hearing the explosion, fainted into the arms of the President. She said later that, after her father’s death, the President seemed to fill the void that no younger man ever could. Amidst great secrecy, John Tyler married Julia Gardiner on Gardiner’s Island on June 26, 1844. Dolley Madison prided herself on the role she played in helping the romance along.

Children:
1. David Gardiner Tyler (1846-1927)
2. John Alexander Tyler (1848 –1883)
3. Julia Tyler Spencer (1849 – 1871)
4. Lachlan Tyler (1851-1902)
5. Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853 – 1935)
6. Robert Fitzwalter Tyler (1856 – 1927)
7. Pearl Tyler Ellis (1860 – 1947)

First Lady (June 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845):

Though Julia Tyler did not have long in the White House, she nonetheless made quite an impact. Like Angelica Van Buren before her, Julia’s impact was not always a positive one. She often gave offense by appearing "too regal" or "queenlike". Also like Angelica Van Buren, Julia preferred royalist trappings: a dais of several steps, ostrich plums and royal purple, for example. Unlike Angelica Van Buren, however, Julia Tyler found it impossible to stay on her dais, but rather would come down and lead the dancing on the arm of her gallant husband. There was no doubt that Julia enjoyed her position and had a deep love for her husband, who was some 30 years her senior. At twenty-four, Julia was the youngest First Lady to date and was immensely wealthy as well. She was able to bring a certain style and opulence to a rather dull and staid White House. She, still mourning her father, wore either white, black lace or royal purple (also a mourning color), and in her hair, ending on her forehead, a headpiece made of black jet beads, later changed to diamonds. She often appeared in public with the greyhound given to her by her husband.

It was Julia who had "Hail to the Chief" played for the President at state occasions. Later it was briefly banned by Sarah Polk, who very soon realized her mistake (her husband was being overlooked) and had it restored. Julia also had a "court" of ladies in waiting made up of her sister Margaret, two cousins and one of Tyler’s younger daughters by his first marriage. Perhaps one reason this worked was due to their youth and beauty. Julia once noted that much could be forgiven is one is young and pretty. Julia introduced both the polka and the waltz, but would never dance outside the White House, unless she arrived early enough to open the ball herself. No wonder she was often called "Lady Presidentress" or "Her Loveliness". Julia even hired a press agent to sound her praises fair and wise and, though some like John Quincy Adams made fun of the Tylers, it made good news.

As for her stepfamily, Julia had her troubles with them but, in the end she won them all over, with the exception of Letitia Tyler Semple, who never forgave her. Of course all the Tyler men like her. As a New Yorker married to a Virginian, Julia Tyler soon took on all of her husband’s views and lobbied, though not very subtly or well, for the annexation of Texas. Three days before leaving office, Julia watched as her husband signed the joint Congressional resolution for the annexation of Texas. When Tyler gave her the pen he used to sign the document, she turned it into a necklace and wore it on formal occasions.

Over 3,000 people, who watched as the young Mrs. Tyler opened the dancing on the arm of the Secretary of State, attended her last ball on February 18, 1845. It was a huge success, and the evening closed with the ladies dancing a cotillion with the ambassadors from Russia, Prussia and Austria. John Tyler noted wryly that "no one could now say he was a President with no party!" One the day they left, the staff, guests and ambassadors formed two lines to say farewell. Though short, Julia Gardiner Tyler’s stay had been colorful, hectic and remarkable.

Later Years (1845-1889): Because she was still so young when she left the White House (25), it is important to make a few observations of what Julia did later. Living up to her motto "The full extent or nothing", Julia redid their plantation home, Sherwood Forest, with her own money and made it into a showplace. She bore seven children which, along with the eight children borne by Letitia Tyler, made Tyler the president with the most children. Their years at Sherwood Forest were marred only by Julia’s over-spending and by imprudent loans made by John Tyler to his children and to friends. He was cash poor, which added to his troubles before his death. In 1853, Julia Tyler wrote a letter to the Southern Literary Messenger rejecting the pleas by English women to Southern women to help end slavery. Instead she praised it as a civilizing influence and noted that their slaves lived better than the poor of London. Though John Tyler had long fought for the preservation of the Union, when Virginia seceded in 1861, the Tyler’s went with it. Julia eagerly supported the Confederacy and encouraged all her sons who were old enough to join the army.

The death of John Tyler on January 18, 1862 in Richmond, Virginia left Julia a heart broken widow at 41. Sherwood Forest was captured by Union forces. Julia tried to settle in New York but, because of family arguments, went back to Virginia. The war made the sale of Sherwood Forest impossible. By the late fall of 1862, Julia was back in New York. Her mother, siding with Julia in the family argument, evicted her son, David Gardiner and made Julia welcome. After her mother’s death in 1864, her estate was divided between her children, and Julia received a 3/8ths share. Though never a wealthy widow, Julia was able to have her children educated in Canada and Germany. After the Panic of 1873, Julia had further financial difficulties. She resorted to selling her New York property and returned to Sherwood Forest. She did return to the White House on several occasions. She would present her portrait by Von Anelli to the nation, which was the first portrait of a First Lady to hang in the White House. Later First Lady Lucy Hayes would invite Julia to receive with her at a White House reception. In 1881 she won her battle to receive a pension as a president’s widow. She received $1,200 a year, which was later raised to $5,000 a year. Settling in Richmond, Julia Tyler’s last years were happy, especially after her conversion to the Roman Catholic faith in 1872.

Death:

July 10, 1889 at the age of 69. She died in the same hotel room that her husband had died in 27 years before.

Burial:

Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia by the side of her husband.

Legacy:

After the sadness of Letitia Tyler’s long illness and death, and the political turmoil of the Tyler administration, Julia Gardiner’s bursting on the Washington scene was both dramatic and colorful. She had youth, beauty, wit, charm and an obvious enjoyment of that she did, which disarmed the would-be critics. Unlike the hapless Mary Lincoln, Julia Tyler’s sometimes bumbling attempts at treading the political waters caused little comment. Her nepotism, however, was another matter. Her "royalty touches" were ill-advised, but not motivated by malice or a real sense of snobbery. Young was her failing, but her attempts to add to the dignity of the office were more lasting. Especially notable was her introduction of use of "Hail to the Chief" to signal the entrance of the President. Her later years were filled with ups and downs, but her loyalty to John Tyler and all he stood for, never faltered or wavered.

http://www.firstladies.org/index.htm

Fun

Speeltje

Eindelijk is het zover, heb ik de knoop doorgehakt. Mijn vijf jaar oude laptop pakt de netstroom niet meer. Reparatie zou 300,- of meer kosten, omdat het moederbord losgemaakt zou moeten worden. Provisorisch wist ik het plugje altijd zo te manoeuvreren dat hij het toch deed, waarmee ik de beslissing tien maanden wist te rekken.

Vraag alleen: waar ga ik een nieuwe laptop kopen. Bij een "take-away zonder uitleg winkel" of bij een kleine specialist. Ik ben voor de laatste optie gegaan en heb daar - tot nu toe - geen spijt van.

Uit den treure kregen wij uitleg, een uur lang. Niets was te veel. Laptops werden uit de verpakking gehaald en gedemonstreerd. Perfect!

Wat een rust, klantvriendelijkheid en geduld. DIMENSION - Goudsesingel 93

Tecra S5-15Q 15" notebook
Intel Core2 Duo T5670 1.8GHZ
2GB DDR2 667MHz
120GB HDD
15.4" TFT (non glossy)
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 130M 256MB
Wireless A/B/G/N
Bluetooth
DVDRW
MS Vista Business & Win XP Pr

Ja, ja het is me wat. Inmiddels heb ik alles geïnstalleerd en overgezet.

Dit is mijn eerste vertelseltje op mijn nieuwe laptop.

Dat er nog maar velen mogen volgen.

Asian Glories

doet haar naam eer aan.

Dit buitengewoon goede Chinese restaurant straalt professionaliteit en gastvrijheid uit. Strak opgemaakte tafels met gesteven, grote witte servetten duiden erop dat dit geen standaard "Chinees" is.

Yenny Fan Loh, directeur-eigenaar van Asian Glories en Dim Daily te Rotterdam, Dim Daily te Den Haag en Aziana te Zoetermeer is de perfekte gastvrouw.
De Kantonese keuken, met een eigentijdse presentatie en variatie, vormt het uitgangspunt van haar bedrijfsvoering.

Je kunt blind varen op haar advies en dat raad ik iedereen aan, die verdwaald raakt in het menuboek.

Haar flexibiliteit, vriendelijkheid, kennis en humor doen je meteen thuis voelen in dit pretentieloze klasse-restaurant.

Wij hadden een gast aan tafel die allesbehalve makkelijk was. Hij luste niets. Yenny stelde onze vriend op zijn gemak, nam er de tijd voor en kookte een heerlijke maaltijd voor hem.

Minpuntje?

Oké een kleintje dan.

Een schoon, nieuw menuboek zou geen overbodige luxe zijn en warme borden is natuurlijk een must!

Asian Glories is op woensdag gesloten.

Leeuwenstraat 15 - 3011 AL Rotterdam - Tel.: 010 4117107

Reserveren is zeker noodzakelijk.

PON & TON

*************************
Eerst medianieuws van eigen bodem.
De Belgische uitgever De Persgroep neemt AD Nieuwsmedia over. In Nederland is o.a. Het Parool eigendom van De Persgroep.
Het huidige AD vind ik een waardeloze krant. Zo erg zelfs dat wij het abonnement opgezegd hebben. Mocht het AD eenzelfde koers gaan varen als Het (Amsterdamse) Parool, dan krijgen we misschien weer een echte Rotterdamse krant.

Als het aan de aanvoerder van Leefbaar Rotterdam - Ronald Sörensen - ligt komt er een Populistische (lees rechtse) Omroep.
In die zin ligt alles besloten.

Sörensen is geen domme man, al komt zijn openhartigheid soms wat simpel over.
De trouwe volgeling van Pim Fortuyn houdt de herinnering aan de grondlegger van het huidige "rechts" met man en macht in leven.

Een zender voor de "rechtsdenkende".
Hmm.

Rita Verdonk zie ik om de haverklap aanschuiven waar maar een plekje vrij is.
Als er een wind dwars zit komt ze dat vertellen. Als ze een wind gaat laten komt ze dat vertellen. En als de wind haar TON heeft verlaten, komt ze dat ook vertellen.
Het maakt Rita niet uit waar of bij wie ze dat doet. En de programmamakers zijn niet vies van Rita's winden.

Geert Wilders heeft - wat aandacht betreft - ook niet te klagen.
Iedereen wil hem! Maar hij wil bij niemand!
Dat is handig van de gebleekte LPF'er. Want wat men niet kan krijgen, moet en zal men hebben.

Sörensen vindt het Nederlandse omroepbestel op voorhand links.
Prima. Dat mag hij vinden.
Hij heeft 50.000 steunbetuigingen nodig. Afgaande op de prognoses voor TON en de PVV, mag niets PON is de weg staan.

Het Gesprek (te vaak besproken op deze site) zit al maanden in de herhaling. Het is nooit wat geworden met de praatzender.
Bij Het Gesprek zaten wel wat presentatoren die zichzelf rechts noemden. Nu ben ik benieuwd wie er echt met de billen bloot durven.

Naar ik heb vernomen heeft aartsconservatief Bart-Jan Spruijt zich bij Sörensen gemeld.
Dat is één......................................
***************************
Het Breekijzer Storms durft - nu hij getrouwd is met de vrouw van 262 miljoen - een claim van 2,5 miljoen bij het driemanschap min één van Het Gesprek te leggen. Min één slaat op Derk Sauer, die in Moskou op immuniteit kan bogen.

Kijk, als Pieter verliest dan betaalt Nina de kosten tegen een natuurlijke compensatie (stel ik mij zo voor).
Als Pieter wint, dan kan hij eindelijk eens op eigen kosten een halfje bruin kopen.

Want zoals gefortuneerden als Sauer (kunnen) zeggen: "ik ben zo gewoon gebleven".

Dromen

Wanneer je ziek bent en ligt te (kw)ijlen van de koorts, droom je ook veel. Vooral in die hazenslaapjes.

Het waren prettige dromen, die wat mij betreft veel langer hadden mogen duren.

Ik werd wakker vanwege mijn droog gesnurkte keel, dronk wat water en probeerde weer in mijn droom te stappen.

Oftewel onder de douche.

Want ik stond onder de douche met mijn echtgenoot en Kevin Spacey. Ik vind Kevin Spacey een geweldig acteur, maar ik ben nou niet bepaald idolaat van hem.

Toch was het douchen met beide heren bepaald niet onprettig.

En vanmorgen zat ik in de camper van en met een "Dobbelsteenachtig" echtpaar. Ze hadden me uit mijn ziekbed getild en in hun camper gezet. We zouden naar Zuid-Spanje rijden. Daar kon ik dan lekker opknappen.

Mevrouw had een glimmend joggingpak aan en schonk zoete, slappe, witte koffie uit een thermoskan. Ik moest op het dashboard zitten. Uit de cassetterecorder klonk de trompet van James Last.

******

Weliswaar ziet het nog groen en geel voor mijn ogen, toch ben ik aan de beterende hand.

Het schijnt trouwens nogal te heersen. De voorstelling van "les Misérables" werd gisteren geannuleerd. Tien man, waaronder ook hoofdrolspelers, zijn geveld door de griep. Twee leden van het ensemble hebben hun vakantie onderbroken en zijn terug gevlogen.

******

Goed nieuws kwam gisteren uit de mond van Wouter Bos - die volgens mij ook op water kan lopen.

Gerrit Zalm wordt de nieuwe topman van de AAB-Fortiscombinatie.

***

Ik heb er alle vertrouwen in dat hij deze zware taak goed zal volbrengen.

ABNAmro'ers zijn fusies gewend.

Toen Amro en ABN samengingen was men ook bang dat de culturen zouden botsen. Het was even door de zure appel doorbijten. Nog steeds betrap ik ons erop: "wat is hij/zij van geboorte?"

***

Maar beide partijen zagen in dat het om DE Bank ging.

Daarna zijn er nog behoorlijk zware verbouwingen geweest waar de (onwetende) klant niet of nauwelijks iets van heeft gemerkt, maar wat behoorlijk veel van de stressbestendigheid en flexibiliteit van de AAB'ers heeft gevergd.

***

Daarom heb ik er, wat de AAB'ers betreft, goede hoop op. Wie het laatst lacht...................

Jazeker, maar nu zijn we uitgelachen en moet deze bankcombinatie weer de sterkste en grootste van het land worden.

******

Het was een nachtmerrie, maar werd een "dream come true."

38.5

Zielig.

Daar is ie weer: de lappenmand. Een snotterig virus heeft me te pakken gekregen. De onverlaat die me heeft aangestoken................................

U kent dat misschien wel. Geen koorts, wel verhoging. 37.7 - een temperatuur dat je eigenlijk wel naar bed wil, maar het niet toelaat.

Oh, wat ben ik zielig.

P. slaapt in de logeerkamer. Voor hem is zo'n virus veel kwaadaardiger dan voor "gezonde" mensen.

Ik hoor hem door vier muren heen snurken. Hij wel.

Ik kan niet ademhalen. Alles zit verstopt.

Mijn kussen is nat van kwijl en het water dat spontaan uit mijn neus loopt. De tap werkt niet eens meer.

Oh, wat ben ik zielig.

Zojuist deed ik toch nog boodschappen bij de supermarkt. Ik besproeide ongewild en per ongeluk de groenteafdeling van Appie.

Na het eten, dat vanavond veel vroeger zal plaatsvinden, duik ik direct onder de wol met uitgeperste sinasappels en vla. Dan ga ik naar "A few good Men" kijken. Voor de tigste keer, maar dat maakt niet uit.

Mocht Vertelsels een paar dagen stil liggen, dan weet u dat ik hetzelfde doe.

Oh, wat ben ik zielig.

Het lijf doet pijn,

is oververhit

Het lijf is uitgeblust

Het lijf zegt nee,

ik wil niet meer

Geef mij vandaag maar rust.

All the Presidents Wives 10

LETITIA CHRISTIAN TYLER

Born:
12 November 1790
Cedar Grove Plantation, New Kent County, Virginia

Father:
Robert Christian, born 5 May, 1760, planter, member of the Virginia House of Delegates, candidate for Federalist Party presidential elector, died 1814

Mother:
Mary Eaton Browne Christian, born 1764, James City County, Virginia; married 2 March, 1784; died 1815

Ancestry:
English, French; Two of Letitia Tyler's paternal great-great-grandfathers immigrated to the American colonies: Thomas Christian, born in 1630 on the Isle of Man, and Gideon Macon, born in 1654 in Saone, France.

Birth Order and Siblings:
Birth order unknown, three brothers, three sisters; William A. Christian (?-?); John Beverly Christian (?-?); Dr. Oliver Christian (?-?); Elizabeth Christian Douglas (?-?); Alice Christian (?-?); Anna "Jeanetta" Christian Savage (?-?)
One source claims that Letitia Tyler was the seventh of twelve children, having seven sisters and four brothers, but provides no names or details of her siblings.

Physical Appearance:
Unknown height, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes

Religious Affiliation:

Episcopalian

Education:
Unknown

Occupation before Marriage:
No documentation of Letitia Tyler's early life has surfaced and thus nothing tangible is known of her life before marriage. Considering the social status of her extremely wealthy family, her father's political involvement in the Federalist Party, and their proximity to Richmond, the capital city of Virginia, as well as Williamsburg, it can be speculated that her youth was probably typical of wealthy, southern plantation life - sewing and embroidery, overseeing the work of slaves in the main house and kitchens, entertaining guests, daily prayers and Bible readings, seasonal balls and receptions, some skill in playing the piano and singing.

Marriage:
22 years old, to John Tyler (28 March, 1790 - 18 January, 1862), lawyer and member of the Virginia House of Delegates, on 29 March, 1813 at her father's home, Cedar Grove Plantation. The couple met at a private party on a plantation neat the Christians. The wedding followed a five-year engagement and judging from the one surviving letter of Tyler's to his fiancé, as well as his remarks in other letters before the ceremony, the union was genuine and loving, but somewhat restrained by Letitia Tyler's conservative and undemonstrative nature. Shortly after their wedding, her parents died; her substantial inheritance provided a small cushion that permitted Tyler to pursue a career in public service (he was elected to the U.S. Congress three years into their marriage and served from 1817 to 1821)) and allowed them to rapidly move to increasingly larger houses: Mons-Sacer, Woodburn, then Greenway, Tyler's own childhood home.

Children:
Seven children; three sons, four daughters;

Mary Tyler Jones (15 April, 1815 - 17 June, 1847); Robert Tyler (9 September 1816 - 3 December, 1877); John Tyler, Jr. (17 April, 1819 - 26 January, 1896); Letitia Christian Tyler Semple (11 May, 1821 - 28 December, 1907); Elizabeth Tyler Waller (1820 -1870); Alice Tyler Denison (23 March, 1827 - 8 June 1854), Tazewell Tyler (6 December, 1830 - 8 January, 1874)

Occupation after Marriage:
Throughout her husband's career, Letitia Tyler remained at home, raising her children and overseeing the running of their homes. While there is no record of her views on slavery, and it would seem that she simply accepted it as part of plantation life, she did insist that no women slaves should be permitted to do outdoor work of any kind. More often than not, the Tylers experienced financial difficulties and it was the primary source of stress in the life of Letitia Tyler, and it was she who assumed responsibility for the family's investments.

For a period of about five years, however, she enjoyed some measure of her husband's success. So strong was her faith in her Episcopalian religion, however, that she refused to permit Tyler to place their daughters in the fashionable Georgetown Academy for girls in Washington, D.C. because it was a Catholic institution. While he served as Governor of Virginia, she presided as the First Lady of Virginia in Richmond, from 1825 to 1827. As a U.S. Senate wife, she spent the social season of 1828-1829 in Washington, D.C., living in the capital at an exciting time of change from the last bitter months of the John Quincy Adams Administration to the raucous Inauguration of the first western President, Andrew Jackson. After resigning from the U.S. Senate in 1836, Tyler moved his family into Williamsburg, Virginia. A few short years later, in 1839, Letitia Tyler suffered a stroke which left her partially paralyzed, too ill to get around easily. A year later, when chosen as the vice presidential candidate to balance the ticket with Whig presidential candidate William Henry Harrison, the southern Democrat Tyler intended to conduct his work from his home in Williamsburg, so he could be near Letitia. In a series of letters to his daughter Mary Tyler Jones Tyler wrote of his wife's sagacity, discretion with sensitive information and virtue. She was, in his words, prudent. How, or if Letitia Tyler's influence applied to any of her husband's political decisions is unknown but one daughter recalled that, "I have frequently heard our father say that he rarely failed to consult her judgment in the midst of difficulties and troubles, and that she invariably led him to the best conclusion."

Presidential Campaign and Inauguration:
Since John Tyler succeeded to the presidency upon the death of President William Henry Harrison on 4 April, 1841 and did not seek a term of his own, he had neither a presidential campaign nor an inauguration. Letitia Tyler was at their home in Williamsburg, Virginia when Fletcher Webster, the son of Secretary of State Daniel Webster and chief clerk of the State Department arrived, via the boat Osceola,with the news of Harrison's death two days earlier. Tyler immediately left for the capital city. His swearing-in ceremony took place at the Indian Queen Hotel in Washington, D.C.;

Letitia Tyler was not present at the ceremony. Robert Tyler, serving as his father’s secretary, followed a week later with his wife Priscilla. The other children - married daughter Letitia Semple, single daughter Elizabeth, son John, Jr., younger daughter Alice, younger son Tazewell - came to Washington in late May and brought their mother Letitia Tyler with them. Married daughter Mary Jones remained in Virginia.

First Lady:
4 April 1841 - 10 September, 1842

*Letitia Tyler's tenure as First Lady ended with her death
*Letitia Tyler was the first of three First Ladies to die during her incumbency
*Letitia Tyler was the first of three First Ladies to die in the White House

As chronicled in a letter written by her daughter-in-law in the years just prior to her moving into the White House, Letitia Tyler was still able to direct the management of her home and the entertaining that took place there with verbal instruction from her bedroom suite, despite the limitations on her health and movement as a result of her stroke. Her health condition stabilized and thus it was that she continued this management to a smaller degree in the White House. While she largely remained seated in her room, her Bible and prayer books being the only reading at her side table, she took a lively interest in the activities of her young children, their spouses and her growing circle of grandchildren. She was able to speak, often encouraging that the family must enjoy the social opportunities that came to them as the presidential family despite her inability to join them and she also directed that many charitable contributions be made from her own personal but limited wealth to the poor of Washington, although it is not known if there was any specific charity or group to which her donations were made. She also apparently permitted special guests outside of the family in to see her, and had some interest in the world outside of her room, because she was remembered as being able to "converse with visitors on current topics, intelligently." Finally, a remark that she "evaded the public eye as much as possible" suggests that she may have had more movement beyond her private quarters than has been previously supposed.

The political turmoil of the Tyler Administration included two consecutive nights in August 1841 when a mob surrounding the house with fire torches, banging drums, blowing horns, shouting epitaphs at the President and burning him in effigy to protest his veto of a bank bill; this protest only aggravated the delicate First Lady's condition, and she worried constantly about the continuous drain on the family finances, since a stubborn Congress insisted that the President pay all expenses out of his own pocket.

On 7 February 1842, Letitia Christian Tyler made her only intently public appearance in the state rooms of the White House as First Lady at the marriage of her daughter Elizabeth to William N. Waller. One account, describing her velvet dress, also suggests that she was brought with the family one evening to the theater. Some time later, the First Lady suffered a second stroke. She apparently was still able to speak for a letter that the President wrote to his daughter Mary Jones stated that the First Lady implored her to move to the White House or at least visit as soon as possible. This corresponds with another plea, in August of 1842, to see her son Robert and his wife Priscilla who were visiting her sister in New York. They arrived back at the White House too late; the First Lady had died, holding a rose in her hand, having continually turned to look for her son. The First Lady's sister Elizabeth Douglas and her daughter Lizzie Waller arrived in Washington from their homes near Williamsburg, Virginia in time to see Letitia Tyler before she died.

White House Hostesses:
Priscilla Cooper Tyler
Letitia "Letty" Tyler Semple
Priscilla Cooper Tyler , the daughter-in-law of the President and Mrs. Tyler served as the official hostess of the White House during the first three years of the Tyler Administration, from approximately April, 1841 to early spring of 1843. She was born Elizabeth Priscilla Cooper on 14 June, 1816 in New York City. Lively, extroverted, attractive and a sparkling conversationalist with great wit, the dark-haired, dark-eyed Priscilla Tyler charmed the many notable visitors whom she entertained from members of Napoleon's family to Charles Dickens. For the general public, she initiated summer Marine Band concerts on the White House South Lawn. Priscilla Tyler was especially close to her sister-in-law Elizabeth "Lizzie" Tyler, and the younger president's daughter often aided her at social events.

The only professional actress to serve as White House hostess until Nancy Reagan assumed the position in 1981, Priscilla Cooper Tyler had first gone on the stage at 17 years old. She was the daughter of the famous actor, tragedian Thomas Apthorpe Cooper and New York socialite Mary Fairlee, who was a close friend of Washington Irving and later the basis for a fictional character in one of his works. In 1807 her father had co-leased the Park Theatre with a fellow actor

Stephen Price and they built and lived in two elegant houses at Broadway and Leonard Street. With the economic panic of 1837, however, Cooper lost all his assets and he and his daughter Priscilla were forced to near starvation, surviving on radishes and strawberries and living in a ramshackle cottage, having to perform to survive. She was playing Desdemona in Richmond to her father's Othello, when a member of the audience gave a rousing standing ovation and came backstage to meet her. It was Robert Tyler, the eldest son of John Tyler, and despite her poor prospects for any inherited wealth, he fell deeply in love with her. Their attachment was immediate and it proved to be a happy partnership.

Robert Tyler and Priscilla Cooper married on 12 September 1839 in Bristol, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Letitia Tyler especially took to Priscilla, dismissing any notions of her being undesirable because she had worked as an actor, then considered by many in polite society to be a scandalous profession, especially for a woman. Although her stroke prevented her attending their wedding, Letitia Tyler immediately made Priscilla Cooper feel like one of her own daughters. The two women served as hostesses together for at least one reception, for a group of school children.

Most notable of Priscilla Cooper Tyler's tenure was her accompanying her father-in-law on an official presidential tour during the summer of 1843. It was the first time that any President travelled the United States with a female member of his family as part of his official party, thus giving a previously unrecognized level of public visibility and status to the role of First Lady. Along with the President and her husband, Priscilla Tyler was honored at a public banquet and reception in Baltimore. In New York, the party was welcomed with a flotilla of seventy-four ships, many booming cannons; in the streets, their carriage path was strewn with flowers and an estimated 40,000 citizens turned out to cheer them. Unfortunately, while walking on the steamer ship, she hit a metal bar and had to rest and thus miss much of the continuing festivities, including the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston. Nevertheless, as a result of the unprecedented trip, Priscilla Cooper Tyler received considerable press noticeAs one New York newspapers, Thne True Sun, editorialized, "she has shown all the power of her native strength of mind and without being dazzled by the elevation of her position...". Interestingly, the newspaper also offered an "apology for alluding" to her in print: it was considered improper and a breach of unwritten societal code to publicly refer directly in print to a woman of her social status. It was an early example of the public ambivilence in the 19th century of the proper role to be played by a First Lady. Was she a public figure with public responsibilitries, or simply the most prominent of private ladies who presided over the most public house? Also notable was the fact that Priscilla Tyler was the first official hostess of the White House to give birth during her tenure; her second child, Letitia, was born in the spring of 1843.

Robert Tyler moved to Philadelphia in March of 1844, to practice law, and with the absence of Priscilla Cooper Tyler, the President's daughter Letitia "Letty" Semple assumed the hostess role. In Philadelphia, Robert Tyler was president of the Irish Repeal Association, which defended the rights of Irish immigrants and also sought to bring them into the Democratic Party, and notary of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In 1858, he was named chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Executive Committee. With the start of the Civil War, both Robert and Priscilla Tyler declared themselves loyal to the South and moved to Richmond where Robert was appointed register of the Confederate Treasury. After the war he edited the Mail and Advertiser in Montgomery, Alabama. He died there on 3 December, 1877. Priscilla Tyler survived him by twelve years, also dying in Montgomery, Alabama, on 29 December, 1889.

The spring 1844 social season at the White House was presided over by President Tyler's daughter Letitia "Letty" Semple, born on 11 May, 1821. Although Letty Semple and her sister Lizzie Tyler (previous to her February 1842 wedding), and on at least once occasion their eldest sister Mary Tyler Jones were on hand at White House social events to welcome guests, the President had specifically designated his daughter-in-law Priscilla Tyler as his official hostess. When she moved to Philadelphia, the social responsibilities briefly fell to Letty Semple.

In February of 1839, eighteen year old Letty Tyler had married Captain James Semple, U.S.N. of Virginia. From the start their marriage was stormy and the President sent Semple on a three year assignment at sea as a means of postponing any potential divorce between Semple and his daughter. Tyler implored Letty and her sister Elizabeth and Alice to "Show no favoritism, accept no gifts, and receive no seekers after office.” Dolley Madison advised the Tyler women to return all social calls in person - as she had done, thus temporarily restoring her own custom which had been done away with by her immediate successor Elizabeth Monroe; accordingly three afternoons a week. Letty Semple, Lizzie Tyler and their sister-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler devoted themselves to this duty. Despite the financial straits of the Tylers, the President insisted on entertaining lavishly, and so they held two dinners each week in the social season for about forty Congressional guests, and one public reception.

The three months that Letty Semple presided as the sole hostess of the White House (March to June 1844) for her widowed father was unremarkable. She was shocked and hurt when, in June 1844, her father remarried and she was no longer the hostess of the White House, replaced by a woman her own age. While the other Tyler children soon took to their new stepmother, Julia Gardiner Tyler, Letty Semple never did. Refusing to show her the most basic civility, Letty Semple forever resented her stepmother and there would be no reconciliation. Later, when the widowed Julia Tyler helped James Semple during a difficult financial period in his life, Letty Semple wrote her estranged husband that while they would not divorce, she no longer considered him her spouse. It is not clear at what point following her father's remarriage Letty Semple moved out of the White House; since the new president's wife was in Virginia and then New York with Tyler in the summer months following their elopement, and did not take up full residence in the mansion until the fall of 1844, it is likely that Letty Semple returned to her father's home in Williamsburg during that period. John Tyler managed never to alienate his daughter permanently but after his death, Letty Semple struggled on her own.

During the Civil War, Letty Semple lived in the town of Chatham, Virginia in the log kitchen dependency of the Col. Coleman D. Bennett property, located behind the Bennett home on North Main Street. Entrusted with the care of three nephews and nieces after the war, and destitute financially, she moved to Baltimore and managed to find enough financing to open a school, the Eclectic Institute for young women. Two of her students were from Canton, Ohio, the hometown of the future president and his wife, William and Ida McKinley. In the 1870's Letty Semple was given free room and board for the rest of her life by her friend, Washington entrepreneur W. W. Corcoran, at the Louise Home, which he created for elderly women of distinguished background who found themselves in genteel poverty. He was her escort to the numerous White House events she was invited to by Lucy Hayes, and the First Lady befriended and often visited Letty Semple at the Louise Home. She was a frequent White House guest of the President and Mrs. McKinley, and Ida McKinley often put her horse and carriage at Letty Semple's disposal. Mrs. Semple denounced what she called “the atrocious butchery” of the 1902 White House renovation and would not enter the mansion during the Theodore Roosevelt Administration. Letty Semple prominently hung the only life oil portrait of her mother over the mantle in her bedroom at the Louise Home, always considering Letitia Tyler to have somehow been the only legitimate wife of her father, the tenth President. She died on 28 December, 1907, during a trip to Baltimore, Maryland.

Death:
The White House, Washington, D.C.
10 September, 1842
As the first incumbent presidential wife to die, Letitia Tyler's funeral was of considerable public acknowledgement. He mansion was hung with black mourning bunting, and newspapers carried details of her death, funeral and burial plans. Her coffin lay in state in the East Room, and an "official committee of the citizens of Washington" accompanied her casket from the White House to her final resting place in Virginia. The city's bells were tolled in her honor and a "crowd of her beneficiaries" gathered outside the White House, "sobbing, wringing their hands, and every now and then crying out, 'Oh, the poor have lost a friend.'"
*Letitia Tyler was the first of three First Ladies who died in the White House

Burial:
Cedar Grove Cemetery
New Kent County, Virginia

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/

Down memorylane

Vanavond is er een "Roger Moore-James Bond" op de televisie.
Ik ben een rare. Ik vind Roger Moore helemaal niet sexy en de films waarin hij speelt staan niet op mijn favorietenlijstje.

Hoewel?

Als kind keek ik altijd op zaterdagavond bij opa en oma "Rotterdam" naar Ivanhoe (1961 - 1964) . Niet zozeer vanwege de held Ivanhoe. Zijn knecht "Gurth" vond ik veel leuker.

Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe,
to adventure, bold adventure watch him go.
There's no power on earth can stop what he's begun;
with Bart and Gurth, he'll fight 'till he has won.
Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe.
He's a friend who will defend the people's foe.
He'll strike with speed like lightning bold brave and game,
In justice he is fighting, to win the fairest dame.
Shout a cheer, adventure is here;
riding with Ivanhoe - Ivanhoe.

Pensioen

***********************
Onlangs schreef ik over het afscheid van Maarten van Rossem. Gisteren lichtte hij nog eens toe in P&W dat zijn pesionering hem zwaar valt.
De zwarte professor heeft nog voldoende zin en energie om door te gaan. Gelukkig bieden de media hem de kans zijn passie - geschiedenis - uit te blijven dragen.

Mijn eigen man heeft wel de zin, maar mist de energie. Toen de minister van sociale zaken uit het vorig kabinet met het onzalige plan kwam om de pensioenleeftijd te verhogen, was manlief in alle staten. "Hoe lang kan ik dan nog genieten van mijn pensioen?"
Ondanks zijn (ongeneeslijke) ziekte werkt hij door. Hij is pas achtenvijftig.
Het aantal ziektedagen in die 35 jaar zijn op twee handen te tellen. Hij wil maatschappelijk betrokken blijven, maar hij wil ook wat aan zijn "oude dag" hebben.
Gelukkig kan hij door zijn AAB-handdruk nu zelf bepalen, wanneer die dag aanbreekt.

Vandaag ontvingen we een brief van zijn oncoloog, die zijn vertrek aankondigt. Een geweldige arts, waar P. erg gehecht aan was geraakt en op wie hij blindelings kon vertrouwen. Het was dan ook een enorme schok.
Nooit hadden wij kunnen vermoeden dat deze dokter de vijfenzestig nadert. Wij schatten hem minstens tien jaar jonger.
En ook deze arts wil nog niet, maar moet.

Wat te denken van "hangouderen"?

040

*************
In de auto hoorden wij het wedstrijdverslag van Ajax - PSV. De verslaggever noemde het een semi-klassieker.

Dat semi sloeg op PSV, dat werd ingemaakt met 4-1 (heel goed voor mijn puntenklassement, want Suàrez heeft ook nog eens twee keer gescoord).

In het eerste decennium van het nieuwe millennium domineert PSV het Nederlandse voetbal. PSV was elk jaar vertegenwoordigd in de Champions League, en won van 2000 tot en met 2008 zeven landskampioenschappen.

Maar dat doet er allemaal niet toe. Volop bekers, trofeeën en andere prijzen, maar de felbegeerde erkenning ontbreekt. En die zal er ook nooit komen.

Ajax (verloren van Volendam) en Feijenoord (dat ergens in het rechter rijtje bengelt) zijn - volgens de sportreporters - de enige echte klassiekers.

Raar?
Rationeel gezien wel, ja.

Helaas pindakaas voor de fans van andere hardwerkende en veel beter voetballende clubs.
Maar voetbal is emotie.

010 vs 020 is waar het om gaat.

Down memorylane

Ieder weekend koopt manlief krentenbollen. Hij eet ze achter elkaar op. Met kaas en/of roomboter.

En iedere keer wanneer ik ze in de keuken zie liggen denk ik aan een televisieprogramma dat ik als kind (7 jaar) zo graag zag: Okkie Trooy (fragment).

Wij hadden nog geen televisie. Mijn zusje en ik keken op woensdagmiddag bij de deftige mevrouw Pot, die een paar huizen verder woonde.

Mijn zus tilde me op, zodat ik aan de bel kon trekken. Ik moest, als jongste, ook vragen of we mochten kijken

"Ach, wat gezellig, daar hebben we de meisjes ten Bruggencate".

Haar welkom was altijd hartverwarmend. Mevrouw Pot gaf ons aanmaaklimonade en Verkade biscuitjes. Bij ons thuis "kaakjes" genoemd.

Zelf rookte ze de ene sigaret na de andere en dronk rode Vermouth.

Op het tafeltje naast haar comfortabele fauteuil met kussens van velours stond een propvolle asbak te wankelen op een stapel kranten en tijdschriften. Oude peuken lagen na te smeulen. De kamer stond blauw, maar dat stoorde mevrouw Pot niet. Ze pafte rustig door.

Soms liep ze naar de keuken, legde haar brandende sigaret bovenop de andere peuken, maar was dat bij terugkomst alweer vergeten. Onverstoorbaar stak ze een nieuwe op.

Mevrouw Pot vond het echt gezellig wanneer wij kwamen. Ze keek met ons mee naar het kinderprogramma. Trouwens: tante Hannie (bekend van het zwaaien) woonde ook in Kralingen.

Okkie Trooy - een raar mannetje met een bolhoed, geruit pak en donkere bril - kwam altijd in bizarre avonturen terecht. Zijn uitvindingen mislukten meestal. Hij had een koffertje waar - als hij die opende - krentenbollen uitrolden.

Vandaag ging ik op zoek naar Okkie Trooy en vond waarachting een aflevering uit 1962. De hoofdrolspeler Jaap van Maarleveld is inmiddels 84 jaar oud.

*************

Cast:
Jaap Maarleveld - Okkie Trooy
Louis Bongers - Assistent Nono
Nanni Vermeer - Rozemarijntje
Simone Rooskens - Loki Loki
Siem Vroom - Vleer de visserman
Karin Haage - Guppie de vrouw van Vleer
Piet Hendriks - Meneer Jeronymus
Willy Ruys - Burgemeester van Kukelton
Julien Schoenaerts - Geheimzinnige Ips
Jack Horn - Mannetje Wegwijs
Jan Apon - Knoek
John Leddy - Olivarius
Rudi Falkenhagen - de Vergulde Kikvors
Stefan Felsenthal - Fabelonische grenswacht
Lucas Wensing - Prins Zero
Huib Rooymans - fabelwachter Knikkebol
Gerard Heystee - majoor fabelwachter
Dinie de Neef - Koningin Fifi van Fabelonië
Herbert Joeks - Loki Loki

**********

Acteurs zoals Herbert Joeks , Rudi Falkenhagen en Willy Ruys speelden ook in Pipo de Clown. Ook een favoriet van mij.

Daarover meer wanneer P. met een ezel thuiskomt.

Macho Wouter

Wouter Bos heeft zijn eigen partijgenoot uit het kabinet gewipt. Ella Vogelaar liet tijdens een persconferentie, à la Vogelaar zo slecht, weten dat de PvdA haar softe integratiebeleid niet ziet zitten. Om nog maar te zwijgen over haar moeizame optredens in de media.

Het kordate optreden van de vice-premier tijdens de bancaire crisis stond niet op zichzelf. Wouter Bos laat ineens een duidelijke (harde) lijn zien. Eindelijk heeft hij door dat klare taal en doortastendheid de kiezer aanspreken.

Nu nog loskomen van die CU-doctrine en dan komt het misschien toch nog goed met de PvdA.

Brouw 2

**********************************
Scooby wordt altijd hyper wanneer ze Brouwershaven ruikt. Hier lijkt ze wel vijf jaar jonger, hier vindt ze het heerlijk, hier is ze relaxt, hier is ze superlief en makkelijk.

Als eerste bracht ik mijn laptop naar binnen. Het is altijd weer spannend of er verbinding is.
Nee dus. Er brandde één rood lampje.

De trucjes zijn mij inmiddels bekend, dus resette ik het modem en haalde ik het van de netspanning af.
Maar dat hielp dit keer niet.

Ik stond in dubio of ik de auto verder zou uitladen of meteen XS4All moest bellen. Het werd de gulden middenweg.
Dat wat hier sowieso moest blijven haalde ik uit de auto.

Scooby haalde ondertussen haar hart op in de tuin en had geen weet van mijn dilemma.

Nog een keer de netspanning eraf en erop.
Niks.

Ik belde XS4All. De medewerker stelde de geijkte vragen.
Bij het derde "ogenblikje mevrouw" gebeurde wat er altijd gebeurt: de verbinding werd verbroken.

Diep ademhalen en opnieuw bellen.

Natuurlijk kreeg ik een andere medewerker, maar die pakte snel op waar de ander was gebleven.
De diagnose: het (verouderde) modem is kapot.

De order om een nieuwe op te sturen had hij meteen doorgegeven. Die zou ik binnen drie werkdagen in huis moeten hebben.

Dus belde ik P. op kantoor. "Ik kom terug naar Rotterdam", zei ik nadat ik had uitgelegd waarom.
Hij was er niet rouwig om.

Scooby daarentegen wel. Ze liet zich niet in de auto commanderen.

Dus belde ik P. op kantoor. "Scoob wil weer niet en ik vind het zo zielig".
"Lokken met een koekje".

Maar daar trapte onze slimmerd niet in. Ze hoorde op veilig afstand - schijnbaar onverschillig -mijn smeekbede aan.
Bij iedere stap die ik in haar richting zette ging zij in de achteruit.

Dus belde ik P. op kantoor. "Ze laat zich ook niet pakken".
"Probeer het met de riem, alsof je met haar gaat wandelen".

Scooby moest dus letterlijk en figuurlijk om de tuin geleid worden. Of ze erin stonk, of gewoon opgaf - weet ik niet. Maar ze liet zich tergend langzaam naar de auto leiden.

Ik stond in het halletje te bedenken of ik alles had en keek naar dat verdomde modem.
Nog eens proberen?

Ik stak de stekker in het stopcontact en gaf een dreun op het modem. Het was toch al kapot dus........
Zowaar begonnen alle lampjes te branden: GROEN.

Dus belde ik P. op kantoor: "Je kunt straks op de Interliner stappen hoor. Ik heb verbinding".
Een lachsalvo was het antwoord.

Scooby zat nog steeds in de auto te wachten. Toen ik het portier opende en haar overdreven vrolijk vroeg uit de auto te komen, kroop ze weg.
Ze geloofde me niet. Getergd draaide ze haar kop de andere kant op.

Ik liet de auto openstaan en liep terug naar het huisje. Maar ze kwam niet achter me aan.

Dus belde ik P. op kantoor: "Nu wil ze niet meer uit de auto komen".
"Koekje en aan de riem..........".

Dat was niet meer nodig. Daar zat ze, voor de deur. Ze keek me meewarig aan.
Haar ogen spraken: "P. met zijn tv. Jij met je internet."

"Stelletje verslaafden".

Brouw

Manlief staat niet meer te popelen om naar ons huisje in Brouwershaven te gaan.

Reden: de televisie.

Ja, u leest het goed.

De televisie is niet goed en wat erop komt evenmin. Maar de (te) kleine beeldbuis wekt de grootste irritatie op. Hij ziet het niet meer. Demonstratief gaat hij er pal voor zitten.

We zijn in Zeeland afhankelijk van wat Delta ons te bieden heeft.

In Rotterdam hebben we Tele2 gekozen vanwege de vele sportzenders. P. zit op sombere weekenddagen gekluisterd aan de buis.

Maar nu Delta met een nieuwe zenderindeling komt, is de tijd rijp om er een wat geavanceerder, groter toestel neer te zetten.

Want op de een of andere manier doen wij eindeloos met onze beeldbuizen. Ze willen niet kapot.

Zoonlief heeft het toestel dat wij in 1984 kochten. Toentertijd was dat een exorbitante uitgave.

Ja, er staan nu twee kleine toestellen in de berging - klaar voor het grof vuil.

Ik vind het heerlijk in Brouw - juist in deze stille, koude en donkere dagen. Zeeland is van de Zeeuwen: een oase van rust. Het landschap is omgeploegd en klaar om opnieuw ingezaaid te worden. De vergezichten zijn prachtig en de kou is lekker.

Kortom, het is mij wat waard om P. weer enthousiast voor ons Zeeuwse onderkomen te maken.

Dus ging ik vandaag op zoek naar een nieuwe televisie. Nu was ik lang niet meer in zo'n winkel geweest, en had er geen weet van dat er nauwelijks nog conventionele televisies te koop zijn.

Niet te geloven, maar voor 250,- kocht ik een LCD - DVD combinatie bij It's.

Deze overleeft ons!

All the Presidents Wives 9

ANNA TUTHILL SYMMES HARRISON

Born:

Solitude Farm, near Morristown, Sussex County, New Jersey 25 July, 1775

Father: John Cleves Symmes, born 21 July, 1742, Colonel of the Continental Army during American Revolution, associate justice on the New Jersey Superior Court (1778-1785), delegate from Delaware to the Continental Congress (1785-1786), Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court (1787), died 26 February, 1814 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

*In 1787 John Symmes was appointed judge of the Northwest Territory. In 1788 he obtained from the government a grant; of 1,000,000 acres, bounded south by the Ohio, and west by the Miami, and was the founder of the settlements of North Bend, and Cincinnati thereon.
*After the death of his first wife, Anna Tuthill, Judge John Symmes married secondly to a Mrs. Halsey, and thirdly to Susan Livingston, daughter of New York Governor William Livingston.

Mother: Anna Tuthill Symmes, born 17 June, 1749; married 30 October, 1760 in Southhold, Long Island, New York; died 25 July, 1776

Ancestry:

English; the last of Anna Harrison's ancestors to emigrate from England was one of her paternal great-great grandparents Anthony Collamore, who died at sea on 16 December, 1693.

Birth Order and Siblings:

Second of two; one sister; Maria Symmes Short (1762-?)

Physical Appearance:

small in height, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes

Religious Affiliation:

Presbyterian

Education:

Clinton Academy, 1781-?, East Hampton, New York: taught the classics and English;

Boarding School of Isabella Marshall Graham, 1787-1791, New York City, New York, Anna Harrison was a classmate of incumbent First Lady Martha Washington's granddaughter Nellie Custis for one year, from 1789 to 1790.
*Anna Harrison was the first First Lady to receive a formal education

Occupation before Marriage:

For the first three years after the death of her mother, Anna Symmes was raised by her father but as an officer in the Continental Army, he was unable to fully care for her. He put on the uniform of a British soldier and rode by horseback from New Jersey through British-occupied New York to take the four year old to her maternal grandparents Henry and Phoebe Tuthill in Southhold, Suffolk County, on Long Island. They supervised her excellent education and raised her through late adolescence. In 1794, she rejoined her father and her second stepmother Susan Livingston Symmes at a temporary home on his extensive land holdings in the Northwest Territory along the Ohio River near Cincinnati. While the home of Judge Symmes was being built in North Bend, Ohio, she and her stepmother lived with Anna Harrison's elder sister Maria and her husband Peyton Short in Lexington, Kentucky. There she met and fell in love with the young Army officer, Acting Captain William Henry Harrison, who had fought in Indian wars in the Northwest Territory.

Marriage:

20 years old, to William Henry Harrison (born 09 Feb 1773, Berkeley Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia), on 22 November 1795, at North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio;

it is not clear whether Anna Symmes and William Henry Harrison eloped or married in her father's home. It is known that Judge Symmes initially opposed the marriage on the basis that a military career was not stable enough to support a wife and family but relented once he came to know and admire the character and strength of his new son-in-law.

Children:

Elizabeth Bassett Harrison Short (1796-1846); John Cleves Symmes Harrison (1819 – 1830); Lucy Singleton Harrison Estes (1800 – 1826); William Henry Harrison II (1802 – 1838); John Scott Harrison (1804-1878); Benjamin Harrison (1806 – 1840); Mary Symmes Harrison Thornton (1809 – 1842); Carter Bassett Harrison (1811 – 1839); Anna Tuthill Harrison Taylor (1813 – 1845); James Findlay Harrison (1814 –1817)
*Anna Harrison bore the largest number of children by a First Lady, and she outlived all but one.

*Anna Harrison outlived all but one of her ten children.

Occupation after Marriage:

Anna Harrison had no ambitions socially or politically; rather she derived her satisfaction in the traditional role of wife and mother and as a devoted member of her church community. Through Harrison's early military career, she remained at the small log home that they built on 169 acres in North Bend. In 1799, when Harrison was elected to Congress as Territorial Representative, Anna Harrison joined him in the capital city of Philadelphia and made an extensive visit to his relatives in Richmond, Virginia. It would be her only trip back to the eastern seaboard for the rest of her life. When Harrison was named Territorial Governor of Indiana in 1801, Anna Harrison moved with her children to the former French trading post of Vincennes, Indiana where her husband built the family a sturdy brick mansion they called Grouselands; it included a fortress-like wall to protect it from raids by Native American Indians. Anna Harrison managed her various roles; a mother responsible for the education and religious training of her growing family that would eventually number ten children; hostess at the governor's house to the likes of prominent figures ranging from a visiting Vice President Aaron Burr to Indian leaders Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa; financial management of her and her husband's property, other assets and debts. She confessed to doing poorly at the last responsibility. With the War of 1812, Anna Harrison took her children back to North Bend, Ohio where there was less chance of danger. Upon her father's death in 1814, she and her husband inherited Judge Symmes' substantial land holdings - but also his great debts. They enlarged their cabin into a 22-room house. Despite Harrison's subsequent election to the U.S. House and then Senate, and his appointment as Minister to Columbia, Anna Harrison remained in Ohio while he was away in Washington and then Bogotá. Despite her remaining in Ohio, Anna Harrison was well-read and actively interested in the political world in which her husband now moved, avidly consuming all the political journals and newspapers she was able to obtain on the frontier. What most engaged her outside of her family, however, were her Presbyterian Church activities. So involved was she with her religious community that she even was known to invite her entire congregation back to the Harrison home after Sunday service for an open house supper. There is little in the way of documentation regarding any influence she may have exercised over her husband's decisions except for the fact that she demanded that he never bring political guests nor conduct any business on Sunday; this was evidently the context in which the often-quoted remark of one observer that Anna Harrison "rules the General" was made.

Presidential Campaign and Inauguration:

Anna Harrison voiced her opposition to the drafting of her husband as the Whig candidate for President in both 1836 and 1840. Although she opposed his candidacy, Anna Harrison was a visible presence at the Harrison home during the colorful "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" campaign of 1840 where supporters, Whig organizers and reporters came to see the candidate. Harrison was 68 years old when he became President. Until the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, Harrison was the oldest man to assume the office. In the winter of 1841, as an entourage consisting of her husband and family members were leaving Ohio by a caravan of horse-drawn carriages to Virginia to visit one of her daughters and then to Washington, D.C. to attend President-elect Harrison's Inauguration, Anna Harrison was ill and too weak to join them. Considering that she would live another 22 years in often robust health suggests that whatever illness she was suffering from in 1841 was temporary. She was still mourning the 12 August, 1839 death of her son Carter, and the 9 June, 1840 death of her son Benjamin.

First Lady:

4 March, 1841 - 4 April, 1841

65 years old
In sending her daughter-in-law Jane Harrison in her stead, it is not clear whether Anna Harrison did so to at least ensure that there would be a female presence and companion for the new President at the Inauguration as they anticipated his greeting thousands of well-wishers for him - the first chief executive elected from the Whig Party - or to serve at all White House functions. By education and experience, Anna Harrison was well-qualified to serve as hostess herself. No primary sources indicate her intentions. She was in good health and preparing to leave by stagecoach from Ohio to Washington when a courier arrived at the Harrison farm with the shocking news that the President had died. Anna Harrison remained in Ohio since she would not have arrived in time for the funeral services and burial of her late husband in Washington, D.C. had she attempted the arduous and lengthy trip there.
*Anna Harrison is the only incumbent First Lady who never entered the White House.

White House Hostess:

Jane Irwin Harrison

Jane Irwin Findlay

During the brief four weeks of the Harrison Administration, Jane Irwin Harrison (1804-1846) served as hostess. Her father Archibald Irwin inherited the homestead and mill that his own father and namesake had built in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. He married for his first wife Mary Ramsey, daughter of Major James Ramsey, who also built and ran a mill, near Mercersburg. Archibald and Mary Ramsey Irwin had two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, both of whom were born in the family's limestone mansion. Mary Ramsey Irwin's sister, Nancy married an Englishman John Sutherland, and moved with him to his home in North Bend, Ohio, near the home of William Henry and Anna Harrison. Jane and Elizabeth Irwin were visiting their aunt Nancy Sutherland when they met two of the Harrison sons, William Henry and John Scott. Jane Irwin married the future President's son and namesake, then twenty-two year old William Henry Harrison, Jr. on 18 February, 1824 in her hometown. He was a struggling lawyer at the time of their marriage and also suffered from alcoholism. He died on 6 February, 1838 in North Bend, Ohio.

In 1832, eight years after her sister Jane married William Henry Harrison, Jr., Elizabeth Irwin married his brother, John Scott Harrison. It was one of their sons, Benjamin Harrison, who would go on to be elected the 23rd President of the United States. Another Harrison brother, Carter Bassett Harrison, married Mary Anne Sutherland, the first cousin of Jane and Nancy Irwin. A thirty-six year old widow of three years at the time she served as White House hostess, Jane Irwin Harrison brought her two young sons, James and William along with her to live in the mansion with their grandfather and other relatives. She also asked her father's elderly sister, Jane Irwin Findlay to accompany her. Although her aunt has often been mistakenly identified as the official hostess of the brief Harrison Administration, or confused with her namesake niece, it was the younger Mrs. Harrison who presided at the President's table, while the older Mrs. Findlay acted as her social guide and supported and occupied a seat of honor at the few recorded family gatherings. Jane Irwin Harrison died just four years later, in 1845, at age 41 years old.

Like her husband, General James Findlay (also from Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania) Jane Irwin Findlay was the youngest in her family. She was born about 1770, married in 1792 and a year later joined her husband in helping to establish the small Ohio River settlement of Cincinnati. They were among the early entrepreneurs and land speculators who both fueled and profited from young Cincinnati's rapid growth from a population of 1,000 in 1802 when it was incorporated to a population of more than 46,000 in 1840. Jane Findlay was a widow for six years when she came with General Harrison to Washington for his March 4, 1841 Inauguration. Her late husband had made substantial land investments in southern Ohio with Harrison and had also fought during the War of 1812. As Major General of the Ohio Militia's First Division, he commanded a regiment near Detroit, built a fort near what later became Findlay, Ohio, and was taken prisoner by British troops. An enormously successful retail businessman and two non-consecutive terms as mayor of Cincinnati, he and Jane Findlay had no children and put their time and resources into their burgeoning city, helping found its first library. Jane Findlay was familiar with the social world of Washington, living there as a Congressional wife throughout the John Quincy Adams Administration and the first term of Andrew Jackson. After her brief return to the capital city to live with her niece in the Harrison White House for one month, she returned to Cincinnati where she died in 1851. She is buried with her husband in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Post-Presidential Life:

Anna Harrison was the first presidential widow to be awarded a pension by Congress– a lump sum of $25,000. They also granted her right to free postage on all her outgoing correspondence. After a state funeral in Washington, her late husband was interred in Congressional Cemetery in the capital. However, Anna Harrison selected a site on a knoll near Congress Green Cemetery in North Bend, where her father was buried, and began construction of a final burial place there for her late husband. A few years later, the late President's remains were re-interred there, following a service in a nearby chapel, where he laid in state for the family's viewing. Within four years of her husband's death, Anna Harrison also lost her three remaining daughters - Mary Thornton died in 1842, Anna Taylor in 1845, and Betsy Short in 1846. She remained close to, and relied upon the financial assistance of her widowed son-in-law John Cleves Short - who was also her nephew, the son of her sister Maria. Anna Harrison kept abreast of political intricacies and had strong objections to policies of both the Administrations of Tyler and Polk. She nevertheless made good use of her status as a presidential widow to press both Presidents into awarding her numerous nephews and grandsons either commissions to federal or military positions. Although she had initially supported the Jacksonian Democratic Party, she became a rabid supporter of the emerging Republican Party because of its pro-abolition stand. Through her extensive correspondence, Anna Harrison also maintained close ties to her relatives in New York and New Jersey. Her primary focus, however, remained her local Presbyterian Church. Despite having to subsist on a small income, she was generous with the poor members of her church and community. As the Civil War began, Anna Harrison encouraged her grandsons to fight for the Union. After her 22-room home burned in 1858, Anna Harrison went to live at the home of her only living child, John Scott, thus living in the same household as her grandson Benjamin Harrison, the future 23rd President.
*Anna Harrison is the only woman who was the wife of a president and grandmother to another, Benjamin Harrison.

Death:

88 years old 25 February, 1864 North Bend, Ohio

Burial:

Congress Green Cemetery North Bend, Ohio

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/