CHILDREN: born on island

CHILD 1:   Jeffrey J. Land - born 11/27/1957

They had three other children, Gregory, Bradford and Theresa after they moved back to the states.

  Story Submited By: Jeffrey J. Land 

My parents took me to see the place of my birth in April 1992 while on a cruise.  Dad was a chemist who was using a new fangled thing called a computer to help in blending gasoline.  He met Mom (nee Syner) there in 1956 as she came to the island to be a first grade teacher at the colony.  They got married on February 14, 1957 at St. Francis Pro Cathedral in Oranjestad  In 1992, they didn't rent cars to cruise passengers, but since I was Aruban born, they made an exception.  Our house and the hospital had been torn down.  But an almost identical unit next door was still there.  And I took a couple of pieces of rubble from the ruins of the hospital and the remaining remnants of the house foundation as a remembrance.  Mom remembered the ESSO club as being in much better shape than it appeared on our trip.  After their death in 2009, I returned with a friend to see the same sites one more time.  The hospital is now a prison and the empty lot sits there looking forlorn.  On both trips I could imagine my young parents in their late 20s frolicking on the rock known as Aruba.  And I could kick them now for not snatching up some cheap real estate in my name on the North end of the island near Palm Beach.  Even though I don't remember living in Aruba; I only lived there the first 8 months of my life, I still feel the draw of the island and know that if it wasn't for this happy little island, I would not be the person I am today. 

If anyone remembers my parents, please drop me a line at jjland@aol.com. 

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