ginovandewalle.com

Sitting on board this TAP-Flight which is taking me from Amsterdam back home to Portugal, I can’t stop thinking of you Erik, my friend. Yesterday, your family and friends said goodbye to you. Your spirit was amongst us, while your body was still in Saudi-Arabia where you died so unexpectedly. Karin, your beloved wife told me that you are going to be repatriated today, probably at this very moment. So we might both be 35000 feet up in the sky, me flying south, while your body is going home up north.

We all cried because you are no longer with us, we all laughed because the memories we all have from you will never be forgotten. We were angry because of the injustice, we were thankfull because we had known you.

Speechless, that’s what I am right now. It just makes no sense. It doesn’t feel right, knowing that we will never hear your voice, hear your laughter again.

Erik, you have always been a very special person. You were always ready, on time, whenever or wherever we were supposed to meet. But yesterday, at your remembrance service, your “funeral”, it struck me, as it struck some of our mutual friends that your body was not present. As if you wanted to make a statement that somebody had made a terrable mistake by calling you out of this life far too soon and that you did not agree with that. Your “funeral” was certainly the only one I have been to where the deceased person was not present. As I already said, you were a very special person, even after your death, yes indeed.

Erik, whenever you found out that one of your friends was facing a problem, you only needed two words: “Where?” and “When?”. You couldn’t wait to meet with your friends to help solve their problem! That was typical for you. No mountain was too high, no obstacle too difficult, no bridge too long. You simply would not rest until you had found a solution.

Knowing that you have lived your life to the fullest, realising that you sucked everything out of each and every minute, out of each and every second of your life only brings little relief. Although you have lived through enough experiences and adventures to fill up three lifes, and thus it seems to me like you have lived for 138 years instead of 46, it also brings little relief.

Peter Melders, one of our mutual friends stated it perfectly during his speech yesterday: “We can only assume that the one who has called you out of this life must have had a serious reason for having done so. Otherwise, you will be making a lot of trouble up there!“.

Erik, thank you for having been my friend. To me, it sure was an honour and a privilege to have been one of yours.

Farewell my friend…

Share on Facebook

Yesterday I came back to Belgium. Flying Ryanair, the low cost airline that is ALWAYS on time. I’ve taken hundreds of planes in my life, of which many from Ryanair. I must admit, the Ryanair flights are ALWAYS on time. I can only remember one flight that was delayed. Having started with one plane many years ago, they have become one of the major players on the European market nowadays. So, thanks to companies like Ryanair, Europe has become a village. The world as well obviously.

Anyway, I am having a busy schedule while being over here. Today I need to see some business associates, and will do the same things on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday, my parents were celibrating their 50th wedding anniversary and are organising a big family party, and being their eldest and most beautiful son, I must attend that party of course!

And on Sunday, it’s cycling day! The “Ronde van Vlaanderen” - Tour of Flanders, a cycle race for professionals is being organised. If you are not from this part of the world, you will not be able to understand the popularity of this race. What the Superbowl is for the Americans, the “Ronde van Vlaanderen” is for Belgians. I am already looking forward to this year’s race.

A couple of days ago, I found the clip below through one of my Belgian friends. It put a smile of my face, so I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did when I saw it for the very first time, despite the fact that it is an “oldie”.

Share on Facebook