Boomerang
It hit me like a boomerang.
I had it thrown away.
Hard and as far as possible. ….
However.
Boomerangs return to the thrower, distinguishing them from throwing sticks. ….. a returning boomerang has two or more aerofoil section wings arranged so that when spinning they create unbalanced aerodynamic forces that curve its path into an ellipse, returning to its point of origin when thrown correctly…. (Source wiki).
In this case I experienced a throw back Thursday. It announced itself already the day before with a splitting headache. On this Wednesday it knocked me out. Coming from behind. Like a boomerang. Being a boomer did not help at all ;)
Let me explain it more clearly. When I arrived in Uberlandia in 2010 I met coincidentally with Pim. A fellow Dutchman living with his family in the Minas Gerais for a long time and surfing the web found me name announced as the athletic coach at the training center for combined events and high jump. When he visited the centre, just a few kilometers birds flight away, every one was thinking he was my manager. But in reality we met early 1980 when I gave sprint and agility training sessions at his baseball club: Sparks, in Haarlem. Although we lived for more than 20 years in the same town after that we did not have had a single sighting since. Now almost thirty years later we bump into each other in the middle of a huge country with the size of a continent, with a population more than 200 million people, in a small city with around 1 million inhabitants on the track at SESI Uberlandia. It was the start of our friendship.
Even when we moved to Rio in the summer of 2012 we kept visiting each other and grew closer over the years. His sons grew up quickly: one day we were chasing them and playing at Praia Clube the next moment the older one visited us in 2018 whilst we stayed in Groningen. Now, in September 2024 he got married. And guess what? We were invited as special guest to the ceremony and the big party.
When I was working in Uberlandia we found out that the birthday of Pim was also the day my mother died: September 12th. On that day in 2010 95 farm workers were rescued from harsh living conditions in Brazil's two southern states, Minas Gerais (‘state’) and Rio de Janeiro (‘state’). I arrived aas a worker as well and had tough moments, but we had a very nice Brazilian style barbecue and were enjoying the good live.
It was with mixed emotions when I arrived in Uberlandia this time. I was fully aware that being part of this extended family was more than special. Being part of a family is one but being treated as a special guest by all Scholten sons and specially by Pim and the connection to Joel's family felt unreal.
At the official diner after ceremony at the town hall I was nursing a big headache. Realizing that my family was since last year, after the death of my brother, only me and my younger sister. Realizing also that the since 1976 forty eight years passed since I became an orphan. After the nine eleven tragedy each year feels more heavy due to the world attention. Realizing I missed out on a lot of experiences in normal family life since my father died age 44 and my mother just 48.
Tears started flooding when Sebas addressed the crowd in Dutch mentioning that today was also the wedding day of his grandparents from his father side. Being part of this family feels special. We are blessed to be part of this. We are grateful of being invited with just a selected group of family members.
I became what I am now and proud of what Diana and I achieved in our life together so far. Building memories and create new experiences together with this group of people in Brazil is so special that sometimes the Netherlands fade away into the back of our minds. That thought hit me quite hard. Like a boomerang. History is written every day but 9/11 holds a different meaning for the years to come.
(written in English to make sharing easier)
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