Given back to nature ...

Last weekend was a strange weekend. A very strange weekend. For the first time in months my sister called me on her own. So at first I was happy. Very happy. It has never been my choice to break contact with my sister. But apparently we all needed a time to distance ourselves.

I was very happy that my sister called me last Sunday ...

She has her life which is not that easy. She must learn to deal with health problems in the form of chronic pain due to rheumatic complaints. And I have my life that didn't go so well either ... And where I did want to support her and put a heart under her belt, she could not afford to do the same. And so it happened that I had not seen her for 4 months. So I was very happy that she called me last Sunday to say she was coming.

My joy soon turned to concern ...

Unfortunately, my joy soon turned to concern. Once my sister arrived, it soon became clear that she had come up with a reason. An aunt of us was rushed to the hospital and she was not doing well. She is almost 80 and had a severe pneumonia. This aunt was like a mother to us after the death of our parents, so that message certainly hit me hard.

If we wanted to say goodbye we had to come to the hospital ...

We spent the entire Sunday in the hospital and returned home weary in the evening, to be called again after a few hours. If we wanted to say goodbye we had to come to the hospital. Fortunately my sister was willing to come and pick me up again and together we went to the hospital again ... where we said goodbye with the rest of the family.

By the morning Auntie left us in a quiet way.

Monday I went to my family again all day, but this time just to be together, and of course to arrange Aunt's funeral.

A wise woman who chose her own path in life ...

Auntie was a natural person. She has always lived outside the village, she has always lived with nature. And she always had flowers at home to remind her of the outside. A wise woman who chose her own path in life, who did her own things and ignored what other people thought of her. She was always friendly and always gave solicited and unsolicited advice. But not in a nasty way. She had insight into people and everyone was always welcome and felt at home. We made her happy by just calling, walking in, and when you brought a bunch of flowers for her, you saw her shine.

2 cups of tea or coffee ...

When you came in a week later, she proudly showed you the flowers you had given a week ago. They were then showing off in a beautiful spot in her living room and you really didn't sit down until you admired them. A fixed fact with her was that you drank 2 cups of tea or coffee as standard before you could leave, or get something else to drink. You didn't have to be with her for a short visit ...

She was smart ...

She had nothing of the digital of this time and therefore no PC in the house, no internet in the house. The banks went crazy because she simply refused to participate in digital banking. Her will was law, "I pay for service from you, and I wish to receive it the way I want," she said by default. But not because she wouldn't understand. She was smart!

Now on Thursday she is buried ... in one of the most beautiful places I know. A place that I came to every day, in the time that I had a car, to walk the dogs. A place that is in my heart, and a place where I have always been happy to come, and where I will certainly come more often. Nature reserve De Maashorst has been given a nature cemetery for a number of years. And there aunt will get her eternal rest.

Living with as much freedom as possible...

The aunt I have always known, who loved nature so much, will then be given back to nature. As a family we found the latter the most beautiful symbol we could imagine for her. Let her last resting place be where she was always so happy ... Surrounded by nature, a life in freedom. After all, that is what she has always opted for during her life. Living with as much freedom as possible.

^{The photos in this blog are from Natuurgebied de Maashorst, photos I took during my many walks there with the dogs.}