Marie had asked her brother Antoon if he was willing to be the godfather of her first son, which he affirmed. When he came over for a visit, the news of her brother’s plans and disappointments came to light.
It had been known to Marie that her brother Antoon Leferink had regular contact by writing with uncle Johan Veldkamp 208 N.K. Street Aberdeen in the state of Washington, USA. Marie herself at one stage, well before Antoon’s efforts, was prepared to sail to the new world and join her uncle, aunt and cousins. The paperwork was all done, uncle Johan would sponsor her, the authorities approved her application and her Dad was willing to pay for the fare, so it was only a matter of setting the date of departure. Marie was keen as mustard to take the big plunge into the unknown. All her friends were as exited as she was, the months of waiting were over, now the date was set. But at the very last moment our mother Marie got cold feet and changed her mind to the relief of her parents, but the news of her staying in Enschede came as a shock to the Veldkamp’s in USA.
They were very disappointed with the decision; after all they made such an effort to get her there.
Contact was lost for a while until Antoon took up were Marie left off, but with negative results, his application was turned down on September 6th 1930.