Happy memories

Dave and Riet Jaques live in the home which used to belong to Dave’s parents so, understandably, it holds lots of happy memories for them.

It was where Dave grew up and where he and Riet returned when Dave took over the running of his parents’ garage which was next door to their home in Westwoodside.

It was also the home where they brought up their two children, and with Caremark Doncaster’s support, they are able to continue living there.

Dave and Riet’s story, though, begins in Holland.

This is where they met when Dave was stationed in Germany whilst serving with the RAF in the early 1960s.

One evening, Dave and his family crossed the border into Holland to go to a dance hall, which was where Riet (who is Dutch) was with her friends.

Dave takes up the story: “I didn’t dance much, in fact I had three left feet, but we had got talking to Riet and her friends and one of them had new shoes which she didn’t want to get dirty so she asked if I would give them all a lift home.

“Riet sat in the front seat next to me and when we got to her home, we arranged to meet again.

“When we did meet, I didn’t recognise her at first because her hair was different, so she shouted at me but thankfully she didn’t hold that against me, and the rest is history.”

Dave and Riet went on to marry and return to the UK where Dave initially worked as a fitter repairing trains in Doncaster, before moving to Nottinghamshire and then Cambridgeshire where Dave was part of the workforce converting household appliances to natural gas and then for a hydraulics company, where Riet also worked in the Export Department.

When Dave’s mum decided to sell her home and garage, Dave and Riet bought it. After a year of renovation work they reopened as ‘Westwood Wheels’, Dave focusing on the garage and MOT’s and Riet running the shop and doing all the administration for the business.  Many satisfied customers later, they decided to sell so they could retire.

Now, we support them by visiting them four times a day to help Riet with her personal care, medication, and meal preparation. We also make meals for Dave too.

Dave says: “I am Riet’s main carer but it’s a big help for me and the care she receives from Caremark Doncaster is very good.

“They ensure I don’t starve as well and if we could, we would have them here 24 hours a day; that’s how helpful they are.”