Ringdijk in war time

How I came to write down my memories of the war only now, seventy years after the end of World War II? 
A couple of years ago, my American grandson, eight years old at the time, asked me for an interview when I was in America. School had given him the assignment to ask one of his grandparents to talk about their youth and then write a story about it. I felt honored by his request.
Talking about my childhood I also told him about World War II of course, which had been such a large part of my early years. My grandson's report was well received in class and I noticed school was very interested in my war experiences and that is when I decided to write about them. In the first place I wrote for my children and grandchildren, but later, when my relatives began asking about it and the opportunity of  publishing came along, I didn't hesitate and the result is here before you.
Maybe this book could also be an indication for children of this age that not everything comes as a matter of course and that the future, as it did for me, can turn out quite differently. My quiet life in a warm, stable and loving family abruptly changed into a sometimes very frightening existence. I now realize that I learned a lot from that period, something which also provided me with advantages in later life.