During this first week back in the motherland, I caught up again with my sister Ger, her husband Bert and my other sister Han (who lost her husband Lex eight years ago). Ger and Bert live in the eastern part of Holland, while Han lives in central Holland (which for me is much easier as a base during these visits). In Han's apartment building I rent a suite and together we visited our sister last Sunday. With the classic bicycle of a friend of Han (see photo below; I believe that the year of production of that bike precedes even my birthdate...) I bridged a few days this week the 10 kilometers between Soest (where Han lives) and Bilthoven, the small town where I grew up.
In the background of the bike, you can see the apartment building where Han lives and where I rent a suite these weeks again (I did that also in 2022). During one of the bike rides to Bilthoven, I stopped by at the tennis club where I played from when I was 8 to 18. Great memories, but after those ten years I traded in the (then wooden) tennis racket for a (field) hockey stick. That team sport became my favorite for a good next ten years. At the Bilthoven Tennis Club I chatted for a while with one of the four trainers and watched him in action with a group of young kids; takes special personalities to do this...
One of my Dutch nephews has fun with his wife and three kids at a small field hockey club, where I also played (1984-1986). We found an old photo of me in action during that period, almost 40 years ago. Good times. In the meantime our son Mark put his Mom and the plane to Vancouver, where Mary will be a few days with Hilary and Shayd.
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