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My darling mom passed away at the age of 91 on May 23 2002...
Mom was born in Rotterdam, February 13 1910. She was strong, warmhearted,
faithful and everything you'd wish a mom to be...
Her parents were good Christian people.
Her father started working at Van Nelle's
Tobacco, Coffee & Teafactory (Rotterdam)
at the age of only eleven... This plant is very famous and still exists. Her mom took care of five children (my mom was the firstborn).
As I told you before, my mom managed to keep the business going during Worldwar II.
She and dad had one child then and just before dad was transported to Germany, she got pregnant with my
second brother. He was born in 1944, while dad was held in a German camp. Right
after the war, which mom & dad survived, they got me... Dad passed away in
1976 and mom just kept on going, supporting my two brothers who ran the business and made it grow further. She supported me
too, as I was studying at Leiden University, being one of the eldest students at that time. A few months before
I would graduate, mom died...
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My darling dad passed away at the age of 65, February 17, 1976...
Dad was born in Gouda (Netherlands), September 4 1910. He was a sensible,
sensitive, warm man, living for his family. He studied architecture, but started a business with mom in 1936: a store in which
he sold tools, hardware, machinery, building- and shippingmaterials and even pots & pans. My two brothers and I grew up with this wellvisi-ted shop. We all worked there, at some point of our lives.
Right now it still exists! The two sons of my eldest brother run
it today. Our dad would be so proud of them, because the business has grown into a famous place, especially in and around
Rotterdam. I could write a book about my dad... Maybe I will really do so one day... For now, a lot of my poems are about
him and I'll add some of them to this site.
When I was living in Los Angeles and New York, mom and dad would come
over and I would show them everything, which was so great! I'll tell more about all of this later...
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My Children...
Yeahhh... my little girl... Her name is Rikki, like mine, but since
she is much taller and bigger than mommy is, we call her Rik. My beloved miracle was born in Manhasset, N.Y. How can a Dutch
mommy deliver a baby that far away from home? Well, New York State was the place we lived in 1975. The story can be found
in my poems...
Rikki junior is a cuty and I am grateful to be her mom! By now she's
30 years young, working at a Masterfoodsplant nearby since 2000. She loves
to come with me whenever I perform on Dutch poetrystages and enjoyes mom's escapades on the internet...
Rik lives in a cosy little home in Oud-Beijer-land, a small town
nearby. Our area is situ-ated in the arms of four rivers south of Rot-terdam. So we are 'islanders'...
This is my dear Friend Zeb...
Zeb is an Irish young man, living in Dublin.
He is a great poet, very talented and clever!
Click here to read his bio and a sample of
his work under the tab 'ZEB'...
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Grandmom about her babytwins...
Britt & Nick, my adorable little ones, were born December 14th 2004... So at this
moment - October 16th 2005 - they are about 10 months... and, as you can most certainly imagine, discovering the (small) world
around them: Nicky slides across the floor like a fish, grabbing my plants as he passes them (even eating them if he gets
the chance...). This tiny boy also loves to pull his twinsister's blond curls... She just lets him, untill... Then I hear:
'Weeehhhh!!!' And up comes grandmommy to comfort her sweet Brittje... She has the most gorgious blue eyes you could ever picture...
Nicky is a real boy with his cute, naughty smile...
Below is a picture of little Britt and Nick...
Here I would like to tell you about a special friend of mine: Bram
Roza...
We met eachother in 1993. How come? Well, I was trying to get back on my feet, after Los
Angeles, New York, Luxembourg, having become a very skinny woman (less than 40 kilo's...). I got in touch with a well-known
Dutch poet (after circling and tiptoe-ing around the phone for about one hour) and asked him to give me some advise. 'Just
go to Bram Roza', he said and I did...
Bram was the owner of an artgallery in my neighborhood. He and I connected at first sight
and he told me I could perform at his gallery within a few days... I did... (don't
ask me how!). Bram and I went to every Dutch poetrystage since then! Together we orga-nized literary events, inviting
famous Dutch poets, making friends among them and gro-wing in our artisticity...
Bram encouraged me to go to the university and then he got very sick and died...
Some of my English poems are about him, like 'Roughly'. Bram was my brotherfriend,
my soulmate... We used to listen to the music of Leonard Cohen, drinking booz under Brams old peartree... I told him all about
my weird life and he understood. His funeral was a party! Our poetfriends came from no matter where, we all performed
and showed the inside of our souls...
Bram was with us, laying in an open coffin...
My brother, my friend...
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