The American Couple

Maybe we didn’t quite make legendary status with our househunt, but we were on our way. The agency we have joined placed ads in at least one of the nation's Christian newspapers about an “Amerikaanse Echtpaar” who were looking for a place to live. The first ad got a few respondents, and that is how we found our first temporary home for the month of April.

The second ad got a slew of sympathy calls. There was the kind 70-something widower who had three rooms for us to use in an emergency, but he wasn’t too keen on letting us use the kitchen. (At least he was honest!) We need to eat, so we decided against it. There were others who didn’t allow cats. I need my kitty-love, so we decided against them. In a little village, there was the little home in the little garden of a BIG Dutch Reformed family. The house was a little too little – the bedroom was about the size of a double bed, and the other room wasn’t much bigger. Ik ben zwanger, so we decided against it. There was another man who had a little house in a little garden…you get the picture. So did we, so we didn’t even need to look. Even our housemate in our temporary home mentioned seeing the ad for us – “You are The American Couple,” she said, with a big smile on her face. In the end, however, the ad came through for us again – it is how we ended up in our new home – the one with the beautiful views of the Rhine, the steeple, and the garden. The one in the basement. The one with the family of spiders resurrecting themselves daily in our bathroom.