Additional Greetings - 2019
May 1, 2019
Dear Zamzam Friends and Family,
Big greetings to all of you! Our celebration of this day went by in a quiet way, but in two years we will have to make some noise! However, it’s not the NUMBER of years, but what we have DONE with them.
After 78 years, we thought we knew everything about the Zamzam. We have the passenger list, the survivors list, a Zamzam bibliography, special mugs, DVD’s, memorabilia, newsletters, and great memories! You name it! However, in October we received a new surprise! It came from Kathryn Hamrick who lives in Shelby, North Carolina. Her Great Aunt traveled on the Zamzam as Rosa Hocutt Powell. Rosa died in 1982 but her daughter, Mary, presently lives in a Methodist retirement home in Greenville, North Carolina. And do you know what has been hanging in Aunt Rosa’s closet for years and years?
There is a beautiful black dress complete with embellishments of black lace and a finely seamed slip! It is lovely, and Kathryn sent it to me “on loan." On May 12 I am going to wear that dress as I tell the Zamzam story to the local Optimist Club. And to finish it off, I will tell them that Aunt Rosa stayed in the same cabin on the prison ship with our Mother and us six Danielson children--and she had that beautiful black dress right there in our cabin! She had saved it on April 17, and there are also rumors that she WORE it as she abandoned ship. Then very tenderly she always moved it with her because it was so special.
Upon returning to the USA, Rosa lovingly cared for it, hung it in her closet, and now I am thrilled to tell you the story of Aunt Rosa’s little black dress. Whenever I wear it, it will be with much thankfulness and delight in finding out this wonderful story, shared with us all by Kathryn Hamrick. Thank-you very much, Kathryn!
Look in future Zamzam newsletters for the “rest of the story.” I hope you enjoy this story, and love and happiness to you all.
Luella Faith (Danielson) Holwerda
May 7, 2019
Thank you so much for keeping us in touch with each other. I loved the story of the "little black dress," and doesn't Faith look stunning in it!
I will keep this short, as I am frantically trying to prepare for trip to Scotland with my brother and sister-in-law, who live in Oxford, England. Alfred and I are celebrating our 80th birthdays together, since we are only a year apart in age.
I am in blessedly good health and so am able to continue my favorite pursuits -- gardening, bird watching, and singing. The chorus I have sung with for over 25 years, Women's Voices Chorus, just gave a very moving concert on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus in honor of the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. We sang of many strong women, including a piece the chorus commissioned from DC composer Michael Bussewitz-Quarm on the relationship between mothers and daughters. My younger daughter sings in the chorus with me, so it was very emotional for us both.
My children are all thriving in their chosen pursuits and I am proud to say they all strive to make the world a more compassionate place. My two older granddaughters are finishing their second year of college and starting out on their own far-flung adventures, and my two younger grandchildren are still in school right close by so I can still be a part of their lives, which makes me happy.
Greetings to all and thanks again!
Elisabeth Osborne Curtis
May 7, 2019
My big news is still the planned “Zamzam East Coast Shoot” at Faith Lutheran Church in Arlington, Virginia, but it may now be held May 30-31. If you happen to show up in mid-May, as first announced, welcome. We can have an early mini-reunion!
We had a peaceful and beautiful Earth Day, April 22, here in the Washington, D.C., area--such a contrast to the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka a day earlier. They were so devastating and painful; however, the death toll is not many more than if the Zamzam had sunk with no survivors - 337 or so. Also, hundreds were injured.
World War II was even deadlier. An estimated 9,343 died when the German flagship Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in the Baltic Sea by a Soviet submarine on Jan. 30, 1945. The Egyptian troopship Khedive Ismail, sailing from Mombasa, Kenya, to Colombo, Sri Lanka, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on Feb. 12, 1944. The majority of the 1,297 deaths were members of an East African Artillery Regiment.
Wilfred Danielson