Introduction to Adelaide
Adelaide Dykhuizen might have flipped through the smooth white pages of her yearbook, perhaps her sister Geraldine, Edythe Klerk and Marion Laepple’s or others’ heads leaning in on either side of her, casting shadows by the June sun over the faculty’s faces as each page was turned. The end of Klerk’s brown bob tickled Adelaide’s neck, Laepple’s finger pointed on the page, and Geraldine’s hand pressed into her knee, peering over the pages too. The four girls moved quickly through the Milestone, eager to reach their section of Hope College seniors, class of 1926. Soon their shouts of laughter, compliments, or gleeful critiques echoed over the backyard of Voorhees Hall, carrying away from the smooth stone bench outside the chapel where they sat, crowded around Adelaide and the yearbook. With the flick of another page, Adelaide turned to see her own face resting there, second in from the left. Her portrait was in profile, appropriately serious, her gaze focused away. Round brown curls clung along her head, set with precision, brushing the edges of her strong features, the prominent nose, large, deep set eyes, and wide cheek bones. This attitude fit her though, and she smiled, satisfied, eyes flitting down to the words beneath her photograph, quietly affirming that four years at Hope had well equipped her for whatever lay ahead. Adelaide Dykhuizen. Delphi Vice President. Modern-language English Course. And of course, the senior quote, the phrase for others to remember her by, those few words intended to capture a personality. “Grace that won who saw to wish her stay.”