Family in Eindhoven

Yesterday (Sunday) was a very different and special day. There was very little sightseeing and much time spent with family. A day I had looked forward to since we booked our tickets back in February. We began the day with breakfast in the cafe across the street from our room. There were rusks, gouda, and raisin bread. Good Dutch breadkfast foods. We gave Flo Kees' (my cousin) address, which was fine except we ran into the first construction since we arrived here a week ago. The roads in Europe are fanastic. Michigan should come and have a look. :)

We got to Kees' about 11 but he wasn't there. There had been a miscommunication along the way. He showed up a few minutes after we arrived. It was so good to see him again. The last time was 40 years ago when I came here with dad and Elaine. We spent a lot of time with Kees' family when we were here so there's a bond. I didn 't realize how strong the bond was until I had spent an hour or so with him. Then it all came rushing back. :) We had coffee/tea in his apartment. When he made coffee, the coffee machine ground the beans and then made the coffee.
We've seen this in other places. That's fresh coffee!

After chatting for awhile, which felt very natural, he took us to see some things in Eindhoven. We saw:
- the house dad grew up in. The street was much shorter than I remember it. I recognized the house as we drove up it to. We took pictures out front and tried to take pictures of the garden in the back but there was a fence up. I got a picture of the bedroom window were Elaine and I slept. Kees held the camera up over the fence and took pictures of the garden.
- the canal were dad swam and skated as a kid. It was much wider and longer than I remembered.
- the orginal Phillips factories/head offices were many of the Rinzema kids worked.
- the pub dad, Elaine, me and Kees' family went to on our last day in Holland.
- the house Kees grew up in and where we spent a lot of time when we were here.
- Kees' business/offices. He creates office spaces all over Holland. If you don't understand that, I'll explain it to you when we're together.

We stopped in a cafe to sit for awhile - which turned out to be too long as we were an hour late for the family gathering. We went to Gerrit-Jon's house (Kees' brother) and there were about 20 family members there. I only recognized a few - Tante Geerte (these names won't be spelt correctly I'm sure), Tante Fin (who is 87 and looks great!), and Uncle Wim (who's 90 and still driving!). I won't list all the names of the people there. Again, ask me about it later. We sat outside in a beautiful garden. (the cool weather is gone - it was very hot) From the time we arrived we talked, ate (incredible food that kept coming and coming),drank (there was
even champagne to celebrate our 30 anniversary - one of the reasons we took this trip), shared pictures and really enjoyed being together.

I tried to talk to everyone there and think I was pretty successful. Yesterday I was a little concerned it would be awkward but as the day was coming to an end, I found myself sad that it would soon end. Growing up I didn't have family time like this. Now I see what I've missed.

We showed many of the family the pictures you took Emilee. They said you were a very good
photographer. Everyone said we have a lovely family (which we do!). Several thought Rob and Mark looked exactly the same. They loved the grandkids.

(I'm writing this morning outside the cafe we had breakfast. The street cleaner just came by within inches of me. Where in Michigan can you get that experience?)

We said our goodbyes about 10:30. Goodbyes (and hellos) involve holding each others arms/hands and 3 "air kisses" - one on each cheek and then back to the first cheek. Very natural for folks here but a little awkward for us. Is it really an air kiss? Should you actually kiss the face? If yes, how "much"? Do you start with the right cheek? Who makes the first move?

We dropped Tante Geerte off at her apartment - which she was very eager for us to see - which we did. It's a beautiful apartment. Very big and decorated nicely. As soon as I walked into the living room I could see a painting that dad had painted. More goodbyes and we went back to Kees'. We made arrangements to meet for lunch today. I really wanted to see him again because yesterday didn't feel like enough. I can feel already it will be very hard to say goodbye to him again (as it was 40 years ago).

Today we're off to buy tea towels - many tea towels!

One thing I learned today - you don't have to see family a lot to have a close connection to them
One new thing I experienced today - riding in a BMW
Most powerful moment of the day - being with Kees again
One pleasurable experience - the entire visit with family. It was so special.