Alies

A week ago on Sunday Alies was smiling in her sunny living room. Naomi's friend Monique came to visit and we went for a nice walk through the woods. I took her back to Utrecht on my way to Rotterdam. Naomi stayed behind.

During work on Monday Naomi was having a really rough time with her mom. The smiling had stopped and the end was near. She asked that I come back, so I made arrangements with my school to be absent until Wednesday the 12th. Nice that they are so cooperative.

I arrived well after dinner just in time to say goodbye and watch the morphine drip go in. Naomi decided to camp out in the livingroom next to her mom. Just after 4 in the morning she heard some irregular breathing and got up to hold her mom's hand through the final moments. Alies passed away peacefully in her sleep at 4:13 on Tuesday morning.

After that the chaos ensued. The official people came immediately to draw up some documents and after an hour or so we went back to bed. After a couple hours of sleep Erna, Naomi's aunt came, and was a huge help with everything. She washed the body, Naomi put on some makeup, and they both dressed her nicely. The undertaker was there to help as well.

We cleaned out the bedroom and turned it into a funeral parlor. Strange to have this in a house, but here it is pretty normal. People can come and go at a time that suits them and we get to spend more time with them. Nice that it is spread out...but I don't go in that room any more.

Naomi has done a great job with making all the arrangements and hosting people. I have been busy cleaning out the kitchen. Hopefully the job will be done today. All the cabinets are in order and I am wrapping up the pantry. We had to throw out about two 55 gallon trash cans worth of food, a third can full of plastic containers and other garbage, and I have about 20 buckets worth of stuff to give away or sell.

We have a couple prizes so far: Naomi gets first place for finding the oldest thing in the fridge - pizza crusts from 1995. I found the oldest dated thing in the pantry - curry paste from 1985. We will keep that one on display. Finally, the most impressive bottle of alcohol was undated Gordon's Dry Gin - unopened but the first inch or so had disappeared. How long does it take to evaporate through a sealed bottle??

This is only the kitchen...the rest of the house is packed just as tight. It will be a big job to sort and organize this place into usable space. This is part of why we don't plan to sell it right away, but keep it as a second home. Being able to escape regularly from the business and smog of Rotterdam will be a real luxury...