A tale of two cities: my home his home

A neighbor and me, 30th and Dauphin Sts., Strawberry Mansion, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, circa 1953

Martijn dressed for Carnival, circa 1955, Maastricht, 

the Netherlands, Europe

Here I am back in Maastricht my home for almost eight years. I flew directly from Philadelphia, my home for 38 years, via Amsterdam. Philadelphia where I was born and raised and where I spent the last 10 weeks to Maastricht, where Martijn was born and raised, where I will spend the next 7 weeks. Historic cities, these. Philadelphia - America’s Cradle of Liberty, birthplace of the United States of America; Maastricht, where the treaty of Maastricht signaled the birth of the modern European Union. Brick houses and cobblestone streets give way to lush country sides. Parallels abound.

My spring and summer mirror my childhood and recent adulthood, bookended by these two places. Four years after the death of my beloved husband, my soulmate, I journey now to fully tie the ends, to honor and integrate the past in order to wear the present and welcome the future. 

Schuykill River Sunset

Maas River Sunset

Even Philadelphia’s scenic western river, the Schuykill has a Dutch name. At certain spots and perspectives the Schuykill and the Maas evoke each other. 

Obviously, the linkages are for me more personal than actual. I have intentionally chosen to make this bi-seasonal journey one of transition and integration, ultimately to incorporate and transcend the tragedy of losing Martijn too soon. 

My spring in Philadelphia was connective and restorative. The meshwork of friendships and family there enveloped my soul; the sights and sounds enlivened and entertained me endlessly, as I etched my trails across the city of my birth, reclaiming the “I-hood” of my unique upbringing and experiences there. Of course, having lived and loved with Martijn, the I has forever become a “We”, as I am now a soul that has been intertwined by love so deep and so resounding that I am forever transformed. 

And so it was that the part of Martijn that lives on in me, his forever beloved, also came to Philadelphia, the city where he had hoped to live with me as I lived with him, here in Maastricht. And now I touch the soil of his hometown as one who is and will ever be a “We.” I am here to connect and restore. And along the way, I will show you glimpses of the faces and places of this, my other home.