Valentine’s Day postcard, circa 1936
Ebeling Johannes Veenhuis is born on December 26, 1929, in Rockaway Park, N.Y., as the son of German parents. A few months prior, his mother and father meet in Germany and decide to emigrate to the USA. After the Great Depression in 1929/30, Johannes’s parents also suffer from financial difficulties, making it hard for them to care for their child. As a result, they send their two-year-old son to the care of his aunt in Papenburg, Lower Saxony, in 1931. Johannes grows up there, goes to school, and completes his apprenticeship. After the war ended in 1945, his grandfather advises him to leave the war-torn Germany. In 1947, Johannes returns to the USA and sees his parents for the first time after 15 years. However, the stay will not last long: at 21, Johannes must enter the military and is sent as an occupying soldier to Germany. During a vacation, he meets his future wife, Hanna, and decides in 1953 to finally stay in Germany to marry Hanna and build a life together. Before Valentine’s Day becomes a tradition in Germany in the 1950s, Johannes receives this Valentine’s greeting from his parents in the USA. Despite the distance, the small family remains in close contact. This personal memento illustrates that migration not only involves a change of location but also an openness to new customs, traditions, and holidays. In the case of the Veenhuis family, this includes celebrating Valentine’s Day. Through their greeting card, the tradition even crosses the ocean to Papenburg. Contrary to common belief today, Valentine’s Day is not limited solely to couples in love. As the parents describe in their greeting, February 14 is “[…] certainly for the dearest ones[,] that you have.” Whether family, friends, pets, or oneself – it’s up to the individual.
