Partir, c'est mourir un peu

‘Le ciel pleure de ton départ’, a friend once said to me when it rained on my departure from Geneva. The sky really did cry yesterday as Wanda and Kirk left, to return to Canada.
The weather had been so good during their whole stay, but now on the day of their departure the weather gods really shed their tears.

Wanda and Kirk had been here for several weeks, time flew by and seemed too short. Wanda has shown beautiful pictures on her blog Victorian 1885, showing the beauty of the places they visited during their stay. Not only Holland, but Bruges and Paris also. No doubt many posts will follow, as their keen interest in history, architecture and art made them take a zillion pictures.

It is never easy to say goodbye when you have had fun and a good time. I am terrible at saying goodbye: I cried on my first school day when my sister’s face disappeared from the school window, I cried shaking hands with the school director at elementary school on my last school day, I cried on leaving every job (only for getting a better one) and so I can continue for a while. Together with the weather gods I dropped a tear yesterday. It is getting involved, attached and connected with the people you meet and the things you do, sharing family histories. We so enjoyed getting to know Wanda and Kirk, show them our country and introduce them to the ones they were looking for.

Wanda, taking a picture of the harbour and the rescue station at Marken

It was not a big job to invite Kirk to step into these clogs! He did it immediately.

Wanda became one my first followers on this blog. It took me a while to find her blog, as Blogger did somehow not reveal her blog when I clicked on her profile. We got connected on Blogger through showing our most beautiful teacups on the linked Teacup Tuesday parties,  organized by Martha and Terry.

As time went by we left comments on each other’s blogs,  Wanda sharing with me last year that a trip to Holland was planned in memory of Kirk's father. As we live in this more than wonderful environment with so much to see and do, it was more than obvious we would invite them for a boat trip and a visit to ‘Les Trois Jardins’.
The main reason for their trip was to track and trace Kirk's father’s footsteps during WWII. We managed to find the people Kirk was looking for after a little bit of investigating. It meant also showing important war related historical places, like Hotel De Wereld at Wageningen and the War Museum at Overloon. Old photographs having been put away in a box for over 69 years do not easily give away the story behind it. It all came to life when exchanging stories with the people we met.

How surprising and great it was, in fact it was extraordinary. Thanks for being there, Wanda and Kirk, for the gifts you took us and for Floris, for the time we shared. It will be a well treasured memory.
All this in memory of Kirk's father, who left Canada as a young man, leaving a wife and a child behind, to join the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment. The regiment took part in the operations and task forces after 'Market Garden' at the end of the war. Cliff came through parts that had been terrible war zones, it will not have been easy what he witnessed. He took back to Canada a memory of families where he was warmly welcomed in Holland, he cherished the pictures and put them well away. How incredible it was to shake hands with the 'children' on those pictures, now being senior citizens well in their seventies. Just like their parents in '44-'45, they gave us a surprising warm welcome.

We are forever indebted to Cliff's contribution to freedom in Holland.

Your departure meant a little sadness yesterday, we realized the train that took you to Schiphol airport would be zooming by fast on the railroad in the not so far away distance. Partir, c'est mourir un peu. Bye bye, happy landings! Until we meet again, until we sail again, until we drink a glass of wine again in ‘Les Trois Jardins’.