World of Jop

Well, as we all we all know…life always goes one. Last Monday was the cremation of my grandmother. It was a sad yet beautiful event; we (my family) gathered at the place of the organisation responsible for the ceremony, after wich we drove with two black cars to Moskowa, a cemetery in Arnhem. In the first car, the chest with my granny was put; in the second my mother, my father, my sisters and me. My other granny and my aunty were following. Most of my familymembers were quite emotional (allthough we still made some jokes, my family always does), but I noticed I had kind of sealed my heart…I felt hardly any emotions at all, maybe because I did not allow them to come…Quite strange maybe.

At the cemetery we went to a space, and found some friends of my granny waiting there. Quite some came from the flat where she used to live, while also the best friends of my mother were there to support her. It was heart-warming to see. We listened to some music my granny used to like, than mty mother gave an emotion speech. Than it was my turn to say some words; luckily it went good enough. In a way it is hard to do, but it gives a good feeling too…you really can say goodbye. After that, we all walked around the chest (in Catholic style, allthough we are not Catholic…) and drank some coffee and got condeleances of the guests. It was of course  sad event, but also beautiful.

And yes, life goes on. The same evening it was cup-football for my indoor-football team. This year we participate in a cup and the first match we had to play against a team existing of Turkish players. Well, of course Dutch, but all clearly had a Turkish background. It is kind of funny to see they always have their own specific style if playing; very skillfull, but also not really playing like a team, and very emotional and irritated when not winning. So, knowing this, we tried to make use of it.

Indeed, things went like expected. Their players were really good, but always choose to shoot on goal themselves, even when other players would have a better opportunity. Being the goalkeeper of this team, I love that. I like long distances shots and had the chance to make quite some good saves. We took a lead but than they scored 2 goals, after we equalised. In the second half things seemed to turn bad when they scored 3-2, but our guest player Thijs managed to score a nice goal making it three-three. Again they scored, but with some minutes to play again we scored. 4-4!!!

But of course, a cup game needs a winner…so…Penalty shootout!!!And actually, I like that so much. I never lost one penalty-shootout series in my life. It all is a great game, and some psychological skills are definitely needed.

And yes, we also won this one. I managed to save one and also scored my penalty. My team mates hit the post twice, but our opponent did the same once, so that we proceeded to the next round. For me, the victory meant a lot…I wanted to win it for my granny and am happy I could.

Ok lah…It is weekend now and I need some sleep after a long week of working. Au revoir, as they say in France…

Farewell to my granny, who passed away last wednesday…

Writing about it in a blog that can be read by many is an extremely strange thing for me. I always have be the kind of person to keep misery for myself…Like my parents and sisters, I guess that is the way we are raised. But yeah, the blog should give some reflection of my life, and life can always be cheerful, right?

Earlier I wrote about the operation my granny had in hospital. It went very well, an recovery at first went great too. But when she moved outside of the hospital, to an appartment where she could stay alone, supported by some nurses her health decreased again.

She needed to go back to hospital, and the situation slowely decreased, until the moment came the docters told there was no more hope. Dead would be only be a matter of time…

Living in a country where euthansy sometimes would be allowed (though not in the radical way as often is thought in other countries), the docters than would give morphine to my granny. The morphine makes sure the dead will be peaceful and without pain, so that the person does not have to suffer unnecessarily.

The evening before my granny would pass away, I spend in the hospital in front with her bed with my parents. Especially my mother was sad, of course, so it was my task to support her. It also was my final goodbye to my granny, allthough I am not sure if she could notice I was there…I told my daddy I felt this would be the last night of granny and it was like that; at in the night she passed away. Monday will be the cremation.

Rest in peace granny, we will never forget you. I pray there is a place where we can meet again.