Dear Dad, respected present, in whatever way connected to my
    father in law Aaldert,

    As a 16 year old girl, Hugo took me home for the first time.
    I soon learned that life in his family was in a large part
    dominated by music, traveling and literature. My father in
    law was, as many of you know, a born narrator. He had many
    interests and a wealth of knowledge, which he was very
    willing to share with others. Soon he gave me the feeling to
    be completely accepted as his daughter in law.

    When our children were born, he greatly enjoyed them. He was
    especially fond of young children. and till the last moment
    young children affected him, whenever he would meet one. In
    the years his own grand children were still young, we had a
    yearly family-weekend in a hotel, on the occasion of his
    mothers birthday. Granddad (Aaldert) was often found playing
    with his grandchildren on the floor.

    When Hugo, my husband, died 6 years ago, he felt very
    responsible for the close family of his son. He told me I
    could always rely on him for anything I needed. He was a
    great example for me, especially in that time. He himself
    knew as no other what it meant to lose a loved one. After
    every loss he experienced, he was able to give meaning to his
    life again.

    He regularly invited me to the opera or a concert and he
    often came for dinner at our place and enjoyed our family
    life. In time he became a second father for me instead of a
    father in law.

    The past 3 years his health slowly declined. His world became
    smaller and he hardly left his house. He relied on Marlies,
    Maarten and me more and more. He had difficulty in accepting
    changes and he refused to acknowledge that his health was not
    as it used to be. A few times a week I dropped by for a cup
    of coffee or tea, or to go shopping with him.

    Until the last moment we could have very intense
    conversations. About life, about God, about the books we
    read. He taught me to think freely, outside boundaries. I
    always could learn from him. Not only about the big things in
    life, but also about the small things, which may even be much
    bigger just because of that.

    He enjoyed nature until the end, the plants and animals in
    his garden. This was one of the most important things for him
    not to want to leave his house.

    Saturday night around 10:30 in the evening, he called me. As
    I answered the phone he started singing: see the moon shining
    through the trees (a Santa Claus song in the Netherlands).
    And he said: have you seen the moon? The sky is so clear. All
    day it was clouded and now the moon is visible, almost full,
    so bright in the sky. He was full of admiration and wonder
    about creation. A creation he felt unified with.

    Dad, thank you for who you were, for me and my family, I will
    miss you greatly.