Last Friday, after work, I travelled towards the town of Oldenzaal. I took the afternoon off, so I would arrive in time.
Main goal of this trip was to visit my mother, who stays in a home in Haaksbergen. As I wrote already before here on my blog, I am very worried about my mothers health. Lately her health is getting weaker and weaker again. Even this week there was more bad news as now turned out my mother has also problems with her coronary.
I care a lot about my mother and I love to visit her, but these visit take a lot of energy and cause a lot of emotions. That is why I try to combine these visits with some things enjoyable. Now don’t get me wrong, the visits to my mother are fun too, but as said they take a lot of me because my mother is so precious to me.
So it has been some time that i saw my friend Patrick. I dropped him a mail if I would be welcome at his place for the Friday evening. A reply arrived soon telling me that I was and at the same time I got an invitation to come that evening along to “Twente Ballooning”.
Twente Ballooning is a yearly returning event about air-balloons and is one of the most spectacular events on this subject we have over here in The Netherlands.
So around 6 o’clock Friday afternoon I arrived in the town of Oldenzaal. Patrick was already waiting at the station. It was good to see him again. At his home we ate with his two sons a pizza (pizza is always good 
).
As a little miracle the weather turned after days with lost of heavy rain to an enjoyable temperature and the sky was almost free of clouds..
The event itself was great. We wandered around and looked at the balloons that were showed there. The ones with special designs were awesome to see. But also the many stalls were fun to watch.
Around 10 o’clock there was this special event they called “Nightglow”. An awesome show around some air-balloons with special light effects and wonderful fireworks. I truly enjoyed to watch this. I really prefer this kind of organized fireworks as the fireworks people themselves have on new years eve. They are way more beautiful, less dangerous and less disruptive for those that don’t like them (and lets not forget that new years fireworks are a real load for the environment).
I did spend the night at Patrick’s house. Next morning after breakfast and some coffee Patrick bought me to the station, from where I travelled to Haaksbergen.
Sanne was right when she warned me that my mother looked weak and sick. As I already knew it did hurt me to see my mother like this. You could see on her face that she was cramped and felt uncomfortable. She lost weight again and is now under 40 kilograms again… which is way too less.
We talked for a long time. Many subjects passed by. It still remarkable that she can be so optimistic after all that happened.
With a heavy heart I went after visiting my mother to Marion’s parents. Her mum and dad are wonderful people. They noticed directly how I felt and were comforting. But without lying or not facing the truth. We all know that the situation around my mother is not very positive. I am really happy with knowing Marion’s father and mother.
Close to the afternoon Marion arrived at her parents place. She was staying at Sanne’s place and was surprised that I already arrived. She thought I would have stayed longer at Patrick’s place before travelling to Haaksbergen. We had lunch together and Marion’s mother really presented a very nice filled table.
After lunch and coffee Marion and I went to her place. As I have only a shower in my apartment, I always take the opportunity to enjoy the bathtub Marion has. This tub is larger as an normal one and had more then enough room for 2 persons (I know ). I find it very relaxing to lay in a warm bath and let your thoughts float around.
Later in the afternoon Marion and I made a walk through the centre of Haaksbergen. It was weird to walk there again. Haaksbergen is the town were I did grow up and lived for many years. And since the few months that I live now in Heemskerk things are already changing in Haaksbergen. And yet it is a town with a warm spot in my heart.
At the terrace of “De Markt 2″ we drank something and had some snacks. This terrace is very special to us, because this is the place where we did for the first time ever met. It was fun, because we were sitting under this big parasol while it was raining rather hard. Marion and I were all alone on the terrace and I don’t think the personal of “De Markt 2″ were not that happy with us. But I think the tip we gave made that all good.
Late in the afternoon we went in the direction of Heemskerk. Some where along the road we had dinner. Nothing special, but nevertheless good.
Once in Heemskerk we prepared for a nice evening together. Marion took even for her doings a very long shower, while I prepared for a nice evening. All evening we cuddled on up on the couch watching a nice movie. Some beer and wine… some snacks… Life can be wonderful.
This morning started with breakfast on bed and this time I was the one who could stay in bed. Marion made a nice breakfast with hot kaiser-breads with garlic herbs cheese, soft boiled eggs and a nice tea.
Because of the bad weather (most of the time it was raining) we stayed inside. Talked a lot, read a bit and enjoyed ourselves. Got in the evening some very nice Chinese food and watched some tv again. Somewhere during the evening we made during one of the moments it was not raining a walk to get some fresh air.
The bad things about the bad rainy weather as we had it today is that you don’t want to go outside, but the nice thing is that it becomes quickly very cosy when you are together.
Tomorrow Marion will leave for some days abroad again…
So all with all it was not really a bad or negative weekend. Sure there were things to think about and subjects to make my mind clear about (if possible at all). But it is about balance… and this weekend this balance is very clearly positive…
And Marion? Right behind me asleep in my bed…
