April 13, 1999

After years spread across the West, local family members have purchased homes near each other in Costa Mesa -- and they love it

By ELISE GEE

OSTA MESA -- While most families are lucky if they can get together for the holidays, Vink family reunions occur nearly every day.
Dick and Kitty Vink and two of their grown and married daughters, Monique and Chantal, all recently moved into homes in the College Park neighborhood within a mile of one another. A third daughter, Angelique, just moved back in with her parents.
With the exception of a fourth and final daughter, Michelle, who is attending college in San Diego, the entire Vink family is back together again.
"It adds an unexpected dimension to our lives," Dick said.
Moving into the same neighborhood wasn't exactly planned, although it is more than welcome, family members said.
The Vinks, who immigrated from Holland, raised their daughters in Newport Beach, where the girls attended Corona del Mar High School and served as junior lifeguards.
In 1993, the family found themselves scattered across the western United States because of various job offers family members had taken.
"We've always been close and when everyone moved away, it was hard," said Angelique, who moved back in with her mom and dad Saturday so she could concentrate on graduating from Cal State Fullerton.
Monique and her husband, John Dale, were the first to find a home in College Park on Princeton Drive. Chantal soon followed in her older sister's footsteps, finding a home on Notre Dame Road.
"When my mom found out we were living close to each other, then she wanted to buy here," Monique said.
"It was the only motivation," said Kitty, who lives around the corner from Chantal on Bowdoin Place.
In the two weeks since the family has lived within the same neighborhood, they've seen each other every day. They've gone to their favorite Thai restaurant on the peninsula or grabbed breakfast on Balboa.
Kitty, who just had a birthday, received a bicycle from her daughters so she could bike over whenever she wanted to visit.
The only thing missing from the picture are grandchildren, but Chantal said those will have to wait until their checkbooks recover from the blow that buying new homes often creates.
Raising her children near her mother and sister is the one thing Chantal said she is looking forward to most.
"It'll be nice to have them say, 'I'm going over to Aunt Mo's or Grandma's house," she said.

LA Times

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