Friedrichshafen
Not only crazy and scary things are happening in the United States right now. A couple of weeks ago I received this very nice card, posted from that country. Ella, the daughter of May Khoen's nephew Max and his wife Jessi, graduated from high school in Portland, Oregon. With very good grades. Ella is dyslexic, so this achievement was certainly not easy for her.*1 She's going to spend a year in Europe now. She will live, together with peers from other countries, in a kind of boarding school in Friedrichshafen, a German town near the Swiss border. While there, she undoubtedly is going to experience many exciting and interesting things. What a lucky young lady she is!
Volendam
From the very beginning of her existence Ella has been to Europe. The first time was in 2007, when she was just a few months old. On that occasion she also visited May Khoen and me, accompanied by her parents of course. Already in the summer of 2009 she returned to the Netherlands again, together with Max, Jessi, grandpa Knut and aunt Lina. Since they were staying near Amsterdam May Khoen and I took the train to meet them. Going to Amsterdam by car was not a good option so we decided to visit Volendam, an old fishing village just north of the city. Many tourists have their picture taken there, dressed in the traditional costumes of this place, and that's what happened to Ella, Max and Jessi as well.
After visiting the photo studio, we strolled through the village, bought ice cream and ate fried fish on a small grassy area by the harbor. The sun was warm and the sky was blue. Boats bobbed gently up and down in the water and seagulls circled above our heads. Everything was beautiful. Ella was only two, so I don't think she remembers any of it, but for me it's a day I'll never forget. Especially, of course, because I was there with May Khoen, who passed away exactly nine years ago today...
©Huub Drenth
*1 Visit my post entitled Ella Sigander.