For Belgian-Born Chicagoans, Brussels Attacks Hit Close To Home
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For Belgians who now call Chicago home, the news is especially difficult since many still have family in the country. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot picks up that part of the story.
Leentje De Leeuw spoke to her mother in Belgium, via Skype following the countrywide lockdown, after two terrorist attacks in Brussels.
De Leeuw is the Chicago-based U.S. correspondent for the Belgian newspaper website, Het Laatste Nieuws.
"My colleagues are extremely busy, everyone is trying to get the right information," she said.
De Leeuw said it's hard because they all have family there.
"Once you finish like typing your articles and doing your research, it hits you," she said. "It hits you very hard."
Belgian native Louise Driese woke up to dozens of messages about the Brussels terrorist attacks, but the ones that mattered most were from his many relatives there telling him they were okay.
Driese is president of the Belgian American Club of Chicago. He goes back to Belgium at least once a year.
"It's disturbing, very disturbing," Driese said. "Belgium just like all European countries has changed tremendously."
Driese hopes this won't be his, or anyone's last impression of his home land.
"They have a pretty good police force, they are going to find that minority of bad actors and just like Paris, can still be a nice place to visit," he said.
Renaud Hendrickx co-owns the Belgian Bread Crafter Bakery in Chicago's Gold Coast.
"We're happy to live in a country where it's still peaceful, you know, but in Europe, it's chaos everywhere now and it's going to be chaos more and more every day," he said. "These people are going to hit and hit and hit as much as they can."
Hendrickx's business partner is expected to fly back from Brussels tomorrow.
"She might have been going today and she would have been in the turmoil," he said.
His partner was just two blocks away from the spot where the Paris terror suspect was arrested in Brussels, just a few days ago.
"There was shooting and all, that already sort of shocked her and then this, on top of the rest," he said. "I'll be glad when she's back here safely."
Customer Patrick Bray brought this sign with a heart in the colors of the Belgian flag. It says, "Pray for Brussels."
"I thought of my trips there, I thought of friends that I have there," Bray said. "I've been over there with family members in the past. So when you see that on the news, it definitely strikes a tone when you've been there as well."
Meantime, Hendrickx says he hopes the future for Europe as a whole is better. He says people cannot continue to live in fear.
