Mevrouw Van Erf

Mevrouw Van Erf is a woman that I referred to earlier as, "De lange vrouw in de rollenstoel," the tall woman in the wheelchair. She is the one who referred to me as a "lekker dingetje," which is has connotations that make her peers smile and shake their heads. She's lively and likes me.

One of the few English things she knows how to say is, "No morning in the pocket." I thought it was a non-sensical thing she's learned. Even Freddie asked me what it meant. I said, "Nothing." Then one day I said, "Oh!"

I realized that she was probably taught, "No money in the pocket," but she changed it. But she thinks it's a morning greeting. She's always asking for extra butter.

She's got drawn on eyebrows - big arcs above her eyes. And lots and lots of wrinkels. When she's not smiling, he face goes into this sad, frightened expression and her lower jaw begins to quiver. It's sort of disturbing and definitely shows a more vulnerable side of her. She's 84. If the war was in about 1934 and it's now 2004, that's like 70 years ago. So she was like a teenager during the war. Now she's a flirtarious, chatty old woman rolling around terrorizing the room. She's one of my favorites.