Jazzy First Evening as Hotel Beaumont hosts a New Orleans style jazz festival
Me with mother-in-law, Geri in her garden
My favorite father-in-law, Marcel in the garden
My dear friend and host, Ursula in her sunny office at Maastricht University
A meditative visit to my beloved Martijn's gravesite memorial at Oostermas Cemetery where the plantings, sculptures and frog reflective pool create a zenlike yet cheerful atmosphere, exactly what we wanted for this resting place
My first days back in Maastricht passed in a reflective pace so I could readjust to my former home city, savoring the sights, smells, and many memories. I'm staying with my dear friend, Ursula Glunk at her 'penthouse' dwelling above Maastricht's Wijck neighborhood rooftops. I realized this trip that Ursula's home sits literally in the middle of Martijn and my first house with his mother and Marcel, and our second own place off the Rechtsstraat. There is a symmetry in this that brings me peace. From her window I see the Sint Maartens Kerk, where Martijn was baptized and which we could see from our apartment.
Sint Maarten's Kerk from Ursula's window
I stroll the familiar cobblestoned streets with a sense of tranquility I've not had on past visits. It is four years since Martijn's death. He would be 60 now. I have incorporated the miracle of his life and our relationship and the tragedy of his death and its ripples - my mother-in-law truly never recovered from his passing and now is herself slipping gently, slowly into dementia. Yet, I seem somehow to have come terms with these inevitable life cycles and nowhere on earth feels as gentle and right to me as being in Maastricht, birthplace of the man whose love still lights my soul and where his bones fertilize the loamy, fertile soil.
Friends, Family, Faces
The talented sculptor, cook and wise friend, Barbara Greenberg, at Selexyz Bookstore
Geri, brother-in-law, Janus, and my Marcel at Cafe Zondag
Ed & Swee Janssen steal a kiss at her shop, Beauty Lovers near Onze Lievre Vrouw Plein
First night Flo dining: l to r: Ursula, Micole, Jessica and Bob W.
My lovely Ingrid Regout near OLVPlein on Koestraat
The legendary Jacques Ogg waxes poetic at our favorite Indonesian Restaurant on Rechtsstraat
Jans Hasse, my dear friend and Maastricht Uni school chum with his Christianne at their home in Aachen, Germany
New papa, Jerome Spronken with Matteis
My Ukrainian 'daugther' now a full Dutch citizen, Olena Breyman on Ursula's roof deck
My favorite Maastricht pussje, always in the window near the Uni!
Heart-of-my-heart, my soul friend for life, Pia Brand
"Little Sister" the energetic, talented and wise, Sueli Brodin together at our favorite Wijck Italian Restaurant, Quarttro Mori
My friend, Aachen architect and gentleman Uli Wildschütz
The Tower's Top is where Martijn lived as a small child. It is acroos from the theater known as Acter d'Comedie, where his father, Mathieu was the concierge
The infamous Dutch Low Skies along the Maas River
Bonnefanten Blooms as modern museum meets ancient along the Maas
I call him 'Ciggy Boy' - at the southern entrance to Stoksstraat, the upscale shopping street
And here is Carnival Man - commemorating the event that is the heart of Maastricht
My dear Centraal Station, the railway to everywhere
Great graffiti marks the tunnel to Scharnerweg
Here is Mercury or Hermes, the symbol for Martijn whose last name Hermse evokes the winged messenger
Again modern meets ancient as this wonderful apartment building faces the original city wall on the Maas
My place to pray in Maastricht, the Our Beloved Lady Chapel dating from the 900s, Onze Lievre Vrouw
I came inside often to light a candle for Martijn
Ahhh, Maastricht's Friday 'Markt' just outside the city hall
Sint Jan's Kerk where we held the moving funeral service for Martijn on July 30, 2008 - four years ago
Spaces and places
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