Opa

Around this time of year, especially on April 23, I think of the best fatherly figure I had growing up. Opa was always there for us. He was patient, kind, and so helpful!

He'd always fix a tire on our bikes if it needed it, he'd fix things up around the house for my mom, and he was the best role model for me and my brother and sister. When I think of what a father should be like, I think of him. He was absolutely awesome!

As a little girl he'd take me on his bike and we'd get the paper from these people who were elderly and lived in this really dark house. Opa had made a bicycle seat and had it positioned on the crossbar of his bike and I'd sit in front of him. That's how he'd often pick me up when I started going to Kindergarten too. All the kids in my kindergarten loved him. When he'd show up, they all called him "Opa". He really seemed to genuinely like them too.

He made a swing for his grandkids which he hung suspended from the doorway of his shed in the backyard. I loved swinging on that thing! In the shed, out the shed, in the shed, out the shed.

He was very musical. He played the accordion and the harmonica really well. When Oma and Opa visited once in Canada I thought to tape him playing the harmonica and I am so grateful that I did. I love listening to it when I miss him.

In the true sense of the word, I saw him as a hero. That is why we named Mason after him, "Mason Alex Jan" (Alex is a deriviation from Alie - my other grandmother - and Jan is Opa's name).

A few years later he got cancer and went through a lot of chemo. He lost a lot of weight but he did OK. When my oma suddenly passed away around Christmas it was like he was OK to leave this world too. Only a short 3 1/2 months later he passed away. I was a few hours too late and didn't make it to his bedside before he passed but I had written a poem for him which my mom read to him right before he died.


Opa

Als klein meisje
Hadden jij en ik al een band
Samen gingen we eendjes voeren
Lopend, hand in hand.

Bij jou voor op de fiets
Zat ik, lachend, grijnzend
Samen naar De Boer
Met Opa! Gelukkig. Triomphant.

Spelend achter jullie huis
Op de tegels, in 't gras
En altijd even vragen
Mag ik op de schommel, Opa?

Opa koek en knieperties
Kwark taart en pannekoeken
Als we gingen
Nog een snoepje? Eentje maar.

Achter de ramen
Van de peuterzaal
Spelend, wachtend
Komt Opa daar al aan?

Ouder werd ik
Een oceaan apart
Maar elke zomer toch
Elke dag weer op de thee

Het leven is erg kort, Opa
Kleine dingen, veel herinneringen
Jij bent m'n enige Opa
Van jou hou ik voor altijd.

TRANSLATION:

Grandpa

As a little girl
You and I had a bond
Together we'd feed the ducks
Walking, hand in hand

With you on your bike
I sat, laughing, grinning
Together to the grocery store
With Opa! Happy! Triumphant!

Playing behind your house
On the tiles, in the grass
And always asking
Can I go on the swing, Opa?

Opa's cake and "knieperties" (a sort of waffles/cookie)
Cheese cake and pancakes
When we left
A candy? Just one.

Behind the windows
Of the preschool
Playing, waiting,
Is Opa coming yet?

I got older
An ocean apart
But every summer
I came for tea

Life is short, Opa
Small things, many memories
You are my only Opa
I love you always.


Below is a collage I made with memories of Opa. It hangs in our hallway.



We miss you, Opa.

"His Journey's Just Begun"