Willy Kleinjan

01.08.1933~14.10.2023

Tussen zeggen en niet zeggen

Tussen doen en laten gaan

Tussen haastig zijn en talmen

Vind je stilte waar je kunt staan

Toon Hermans

Een lieve, warme, betrokken, zorgzame en sterke vrouw is niet meer.

Dear all, this is a tribute to a sweet, warm caring and strong lady.

In our last blog we wrote that we received sad news of my mum's doctors, that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. We heard this on Friday October 6th. On Monday she was brought to a hospice near her house, a ten-minute walk for my father. She didn’t want to go to a hospice, because that’s where you die, and she was not ready yet to leave this world. She wanted to reach 150 years! Unfortunately, she continued to deteriorate a little further. Friday night Piet slept next to her, this turned out to be their last hours together. 65 years of marriage, they met at dancing school at the age of 18 and became a couple two years later, Piet was 20 Willy 19 years old. Dancing was something they were really good at. They even danced with Noa and Hugo’s graduation, in Vienna in 2016 and 2017. She was already totally blind, but with good leading of Piet she did it, slowly but so beautiful.

Caroline called us Friday afternoon that the doctor told her to call me. We dropped everything out of our hands. Booked the ferry, booked the train and in the meantime, we packed our bags. We had Hugo and Anna here in London. Anna arrived on Thursday evening; it was the first time I met her. We planned to go out for dinner on Friday and Saturday we would go to Hamilton, the musical show. Viv cancelled dinner and for the show Hugo found two friends one with a girlfriend and the other friend took his mum. At least we made 4 people happy with our tickets. The four of us left in a rush to Rotterdam. The boat trip was good. 06:30 am, we got the phone call we were all afraid of, mum passed away at 2am while we were on board of the ferry. We came too late. We told Hugo and Anna when we saw them for breakfast. We headed home as fast as we could with public transport. Caroline was waiting for me, together we went to the hospice to see my mum. She was brought to a morgue and when she was carried away all the nurses and caretakers were standing in the corridor, a beautiful but emotional last farewell to her.

Viv took Anna and Hugo to opa Piet. The first time Hugo introduced his girlfriend to his granddad. Anna was brave and strong and a wonderful support for Hugo. It’s not ideal to meet the whole family of your boyfriend with a sad passing of a beloved one. Noa also came to Rotterdam to be there to help organising the funeral. Robin arrived on Sunday morning; she arrived after a long bus ride at Rotterdam Central Station. Jack and Ailsa were on holiday in our house in Austria. They returned on Tuesday, and drove straight to opa Piet.

The funeral was on Friday afternoon October 20th, Caroline and I spoke about my mum’s life. The setting of the aula was new for us, it was in a circle, with mum in the center. The 6 grandchildren brought her in the aula, a beautiful gesture.

Jack and Hugo spoke after us. They spoke for the Kleinjan children, wrote only a few bullet points down and spoke freely from their heart with a lot of confidence. Also, my nieces Kim and Maxime spoke a few beautiful words. After a very intense and emotional week we took on Saturday the night boat back to London.

My mother was a great mum. She took care of the family. She liked the mountains, and traveling, but was also very good with her hands. She could knit, and sew the most beautiful things. Life treated her unfair when she started to get blind and lost most of her mobility. She learned how to handle her iPhone (thanks also to Siri) and kept track of all of us, by calling each of us, including the grandchildren daily, or we called her. She wanted to reach 150 years so she could see, what would happen to her children’s children and their children.

Mum will be missed by us and so many people. She was amazing. Thanks ma ❤️

Het is onmogelijk

om iemand

te vergeten

die zoveel gaf

om te

herinneren