Jan de Koning *2-12-1925 ~ +17-4-2011
Jannigje de Koning - de Jong *14-8-1927 ~ +27-4-2011
Photo taken on their 56th wedding anniversary 11-5-2006.
They would have been married 61 years this May.
29/04/2011
28/04/2011
Surreal
When I visited my grandmother in hospital on Tuesday evening, she seemed to be feeling a lot better: her bloodsugar had stabilized, she was cheerful and the colour had returned to her cheeks.
However, things took a turn for the worst yesterday when she suffered from one major and a few minor heart attacks. The medical staff did everything they could, but she slipped into a coma around 3 p.m. and died at 5 p.m.
To say our family is devastated would be an understatement. Within 10 days, my mom and her siblings lost both their parents.
However, things took a turn for the worst yesterday when she suffered from one major and a few minor heart attacks. The medical staff did everything they could, but she slipped into a coma around 3 p.m. and died at 5 p.m.
To say our family is devastated would be an understatement. Within 10 days, my mom and her siblings lost both their parents.
26/04/2011
Hard times
This past week and a half have been really tough.
Last week, my granddad decided he had had enough. The previous couple of nights had been very rough on him, and he felt he could not take another night like that.
His lungs had gotten really bad lately and he was experiencing more and more difficulty breathing with all the fluid in them.
On Saturday morning I got a phone call from my mom to come to the hospice where he and my grandmom had been residing for the past couple of weeks. After discussing the situation with his doctor, granddad agreed to being administered a sedative. Due to the lack of medication and nourishment, his body would then give up, but with him being asleep, he wouldn't be uncomfortable when his body would finally shut down.
On Saturday afternoon we all said our goodbyes. Sunday morning he was gone.
It can take up to 5 days for a person's body to give up, but thankfully my grandmother did not have to witness such a drawn-out process.
My mom called me Sunday morning around 9.45 to let me know he had passed away. My first question was: what time did it happen? Bizarrely, I had woken up during the night at 3.42 a.m. (I know the exact time because I remember checking my alarm clock) and in my state of semi-conciousness I heard what sounded like a person moaning. My mom informed me granddad had died around 9.30 a.m., but when I got to the hospice some time later, I heard that he had inadvertently woken up during the night around that time! My cousin told me he had also woken up around that same time... My aunt, who spent the night at the hospice to support my grandmother, managed to get him back to sleep.
I consider myself a fairly down-to-earth person, but I do believe there is more between heaven and earth than we aware of...
The funeral was scheduled for Thursday, which obviously was a very emotional day. Although I am at peace with my granddad's death, it's very hard to see my grandmother grieving. My grandparents were together for over 65 years, nearly 61 of them as a married couple (their 61st anniversary would have been next month). I cannot imagine having to miss your spouse after so many years!
On the day before the funeral, we got a scare when my mom was involved in an accident. She was on her bicycle near their house when a dog suddenly ran across the bicycle lane and she was unable to avoid it.
She fell on her face, very hard, and had to be taken to hospital.
Fortunately it was mostly scrapes and bruises, and some suitures in her nose. For a little while, we were afraid she may have broken something or suffered a concussion and would be unable to attend the funeral. Luckily that wasn't the case.
On Friday (the day after the funeral), my aunt took my grandma to the hospital because she was in a lot of pain from a severe attack of gout. The pain medication made her feel very woozy and nauseous, and she spent the better part of 2 days vomiting...
When my parents and I were there on Easter Monday, she scared us terribly by showcasing all the symptoms of an intracranial hemorrhage. She suffered from a hemorrhage a few years ago, so we immediately called an ambulance. They performed a few tests and concluded that she was experiencing hypoglycemia instead (the symptoms are apparently very similar). My grandmom has diabetes and because of the nausea had not been eating much, which caused her blood sugar to drop dangerously low. She was taken to the hospital to be monitored, and we were informed today that she has to stay there for a few more days.
I was telling a friend of mine about these last couple of days and she reminded me that things always seem to happen in threes...
Let's hope these were our 'threes' and things will quiet down form now on, because I don't know how much more stress I can take at this point...
Last week, my granddad decided he had had enough. The previous couple of nights had been very rough on him, and he felt he could not take another night like that.
His lungs had gotten really bad lately and he was experiencing more and more difficulty breathing with all the fluid in them.
On Saturday morning I got a phone call from my mom to come to the hospice where he and my grandmom had been residing for the past couple of weeks. After discussing the situation with his doctor, granddad agreed to being administered a sedative. Due to the lack of medication and nourishment, his body would then give up, but with him being asleep, he wouldn't be uncomfortable when his body would finally shut down.
On Saturday afternoon we all said our goodbyes. Sunday morning he was gone.
It can take up to 5 days for a person's body to give up, but thankfully my grandmother did not have to witness such a drawn-out process.
My mom called me Sunday morning around 9.45 to let me know he had passed away. My first question was: what time did it happen? Bizarrely, I had woken up during the night at 3.42 a.m. (I know the exact time because I remember checking my alarm clock) and in my state of semi-conciousness I heard what sounded like a person moaning. My mom informed me granddad had died around 9.30 a.m., but when I got to the hospice some time later, I heard that he had inadvertently woken up during the night around that time! My cousin told me he had also woken up around that same time... My aunt, who spent the night at the hospice to support my grandmother, managed to get him back to sleep.
I consider myself a fairly down-to-earth person, but I do believe there is more between heaven and earth than we aware of...
The funeral was scheduled for Thursday, which obviously was a very emotional day. Although I am at peace with my granddad's death, it's very hard to see my grandmother grieving. My grandparents were together for over 65 years, nearly 61 of them as a married couple (their 61st anniversary would have been next month). I cannot imagine having to miss your spouse after so many years!
On the day before the funeral, we got a scare when my mom was involved in an accident. She was on her bicycle near their house when a dog suddenly ran across the bicycle lane and she was unable to avoid it.
She fell on her face, very hard, and had to be taken to hospital.
Fortunately it was mostly scrapes and bruises, and some suitures in her nose. For a little while, we were afraid she may have broken something or suffered a concussion and would be unable to attend the funeral. Luckily that wasn't the case.
On Friday (the day after the funeral), my aunt took my grandma to the hospital because she was in a lot of pain from a severe attack of gout. The pain medication made her feel very woozy and nauseous, and she spent the better part of 2 days vomiting...
When my parents and I were there on Easter Monday, she scared us terribly by showcasing all the symptoms of an intracranial hemorrhage. She suffered from a hemorrhage a few years ago, so we immediately called an ambulance. They performed a few tests and concluded that she was experiencing hypoglycemia instead (the symptoms are apparently very similar). My grandmom has diabetes and because of the nausea had not been eating much, which caused her blood sugar to drop dangerously low. She was taken to the hospital to be monitored, and we were informed today that she has to stay there for a few more days.
I was telling a friend of mine about these last couple of days and she reminded me that things always seem to happen in threes...
Let's hope these were our 'threes' and things will quiet down form now on, because I don't know how much more stress I can take at this point...
01/04/2011
Istanbul
Just got back today from a 4-day trip to Istanbul with my mom. She turned 60 earlier this month and this was my birthday present to her. She knew we would be going away for a few days but she didn't know where we would be going up until we arrived at the airport on Monday morning :)
I really enjoyed our trip. We stayed at a small hotel near the Topkapi Palace. It was simple, but ideally located in a quaint neighbourhood near all the major sights.
We had a busy couple of days but managed to do most of the things on our wish list. Amongst other things, we visited the Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Spice Bazar, Grand Bazar, Topkapi Palace and Basilica Cistern, and took the ferry across the Bosporus to Asia enjoying nice views of the city's skyline. We were also extremely lucky with the weather: despite predictions of rain, it was mostly sunny during our entire stay.
My goal this year is to take a trip every quarter. It can be long, it can be short; it can be far away, it can be close by: as long as I get to go away for a while. And even though it's still March, I've decided this qualifies as the 2nd-quarter-trip after my vacation to Egypt in January :)
Two down, two more to go!
Some of my favorite pics:
I really enjoyed our trip. We stayed at a small hotel near the Topkapi Palace. It was simple, but ideally located in a quaint neighbourhood near all the major sights.
We had a busy couple of days but managed to do most of the things on our wish list. Amongst other things, we visited the Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Spice Bazar, Grand Bazar, Topkapi Palace and Basilica Cistern, and took the ferry across the Bosporus to Asia enjoying nice views of the city's skyline. We were also extremely lucky with the weather: despite predictions of rain, it was mostly sunny during our entire stay.
My goal this year is to take a trip every quarter. It can be long, it can be short; it can be far away, it can be close by: as long as I get to go away for a while. And even though it's still March, I've decided this qualifies as the 2nd-quarter-trip after my vacation to Egypt in January :)
Two down, two more to go!
Some of my favorite pics:
Our destination finally revealed at Schiphol Airport :-)
Mystical atmosphere underground at the Basilica Cistern.
Foggy silhouette of the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia from the ferry.
At the Turkish restaurant (2nd night)
Blue Mosque (a.k.a. Sultan Ahmet Mosque)
Interior of the Aya Sofia.
Aya Sofia by night.
Spice Bazar
Stray cat testing wares at the Grand Bazar...
Interior at the Topkapi Palace.
28/03/2011
Shocking news
Earlier this week our family learned that my aunt's Thai sister-in-law and her 2 young children were killed in a railroad accident near their home in Thailand. My aunt accompanied her brother to Thailand to make the necessary arrangements for their burial.
I can't imagine what their family must be going through at the moment...
I can't imagine what their family must be going through at the moment...
24/03/2011
Highs and lows
It´s not going well with my grandfather. He´s lost about 30kgs in the last 6 months, can no longer walk unassisted (and even then only a few steps at a time), is hooked up to an oxygen tank all day and is in constant pain, despite a very high dosage of morphine.
He´s indicated that he no longer wants to live this way, and therefore his doctor has agreed to stop all medication except pain medication. Now it´s a matter of waiting until his heart gives up. It could be days, it could be weeks, it could be months. Honestly, as far as I´m concerned, the shorter the better. This is no way to live, so I hope he won´t have to suffer for too long.
Despite this weighing heavy on my mind, fortunately there are also some bright spots I can focus on. My cavy Pluk is slowly but surely gaining weight. She had an abcess over Christmas and her recuperation took a lot of energy. She went down from 850g to as little as 515g! The vet checked her out a couple of times and determined she has a heart murmur. We even had some x-rays taken, and though her heart did not show any abnormalities, there was a questionable spot near her kidneys. It could be a tumor, it could be kidney failure, they couldn't say without having performed further tests. Since I think extensive poking and prodding would not be beneficial for Pluk´s quality of life (she´s happy and has a good appetite in general) I´ve decided to let things be for now. I did change her diet slightly and lo and behold, she gained more that 100g in the past 3 weeks! Yay!
Another bright spot: my mom celebrated her 60th birthday earlier this month. I wanted to go away for a few days this spring and then decided it would be fun to treat her to a trip for her birthday. She knows WHEN
I´m taking her and for how long, but she still doesn´t know WHERE I´m taking her... She´s constantly trying to have me spill the beans (and she has it narrowed down quite a bit), but I´ve surprised myself in not having blabbed it already :-) The goal is to spring it on her once we are at the airport. I wonder how she'll take it...
He´s indicated that he no longer wants to live this way, and therefore his doctor has agreed to stop all medication except pain medication. Now it´s a matter of waiting until his heart gives up. It could be days, it could be weeks, it could be months. Honestly, as far as I´m concerned, the shorter the better. This is no way to live, so I hope he won´t have to suffer for too long.
Despite this weighing heavy on my mind, fortunately there are also some bright spots I can focus on. My cavy Pluk is slowly but surely gaining weight. She had an abcess over Christmas and her recuperation took a lot of energy. She went down from 850g to as little as 515g! The vet checked her out a couple of times and determined she has a heart murmur. We even had some x-rays taken, and though her heart did not show any abnormalities, there was a questionable spot near her kidneys. It could be a tumor, it could be kidney failure, they couldn't say without having performed further tests. Since I think extensive poking and prodding would not be beneficial for Pluk´s quality of life (she´s happy and has a good appetite in general) I´ve decided to let things be for now. I did change her diet slightly and lo and behold, she gained more that 100g in the past 3 weeks! Yay!
Another bright spot: my mom celebrated her 60th birthday earlier this month. I wanted to go away for a few days this spring and then decided it would be fun to treat her to a trip for her birthday. She knows WHEN
I´m taking her and for how long, but she still doesn´t know WHERE I´m taking her... She´s constantly trying to have me spill the beans (and she has it narrowed down quite a bit), but I´ve surprised myself in not having blabbed it already :-) The goal is to spring it on her once we are at the airport. I wonder how she'll take it...
06/01/2011
One little word
Ali Edwards is a well-known scrapbooker, and for a few years now she's started the year by letting one little word be the theme for the upcoming year. It's not something that I've thought about much before, until I had somewhat of an aha-moment earlier this week.
After a very hectic 2010, I'm desperately craving some peace and quiet. At the beginning of this week, I was totally stressing out: sick grandfather, sick pet, not feeling well myself, about to go on holiday this Friday, too much to do... So I decided that one of my New Year Resolutions is that I want to look into yoga when I get back from my holiday. And then it came to me: my One Little Word for 2011 could be Peace.
Peace of mind. Peace and quiet. Inner Peace. World Peace ;-) (little 'Miss Congeniality'-joke there, haha)
I think it's a good word. Deep down I'm a glass-half-empty-girl and I need to remind myself often that I should be more light-hearted, take each day as it comes, don't worry too much etc.
Peace. I think it's a lofty goal.
After a very hectic 2010, I'm desperately craving some peace and quiet. At the beginning of this week, I was totally stressing out: sick grandfather, sick pet, not feeling well myself, about to go on holiday this Friday, too much to do... So I decided that one of my New Year Resolutions is that I want to look into yoga when I get back from my holiday. And then it came to me: my One Little Word for 2011 could be Peace.
Peace of mind. Peace and quiet. Inner Peace. World Peace ;-) (little 'Miss Congeniality'-joke there, haha)
I think it's a good word. Deep down I'm a glass-half-empty-girl and I need to remind myself often that I should be more light-hearted, take each day as it comes, don't worry too much etc.
Peace. I think it's a lofty goal.
01/01/2011
It's 2011! (a.k.a. 2010 in review)
2010 was a hectic year to say the least. What happened, you ask??
- I started taking bass guitar lessons.
- I passed the CDCS exam.
- I got a new cavy, Amber.
- I survived another reorganisation at work. The 4th one in my 8 years of employment...
- I gained a lot of new colleagues when my department merged with another department.
- Our department moved to another building.
- I was diagnosed with and treated for skin cancer (thankfully I gave into my vanity and went to the dermatologist to have some spots removed or I would never have known!)
- My grandfather's lung cancer came back. Unfortunately he cannot be treated.
- I visited Turkey and Texel for the 1st time.
- I visited Beekse Bergen, Dolfinarium Harderwijk and Palace 't Loo for 1st time.
- I went for a trip on the Spido for the 1st time.
- I went to Paris - again.
- It snowed on my birthday! I cannot recall a time that happened before.
- I started a recipe blog.
- One of my cousins became a father and one of my girlfriends had a 2nd daughter.
- I met a lot of my mother's extended family at a family reunion.
- My trip to Egypt was cancelled and rescheduled to 2011 (next week actually!)
- I attended Red Hair Day this Summer.
Phew, I'm exhausted!
- I started taking bass guitar lessons.
- I passed the CDCS exam.
- I got a new cavy, Amber.
- I survived another reorganisation at work. The 4th one in my 8 years of employment...
- I gained a lot of new colleagues when my department merged with another department.
- Our department moved to another building.
- I was diagnosed with and treated for skin cancer (thankfully I gave into my vanity and went to the dermatologist to have some spots removed or I would never have known!)
- My grandfather's lung cancer came back. Unfortunately he cannot be treated.
- I visited Turkey and Texel for the 1st time.
- I visited Beekse Bergen, Dolfinarium Harderwijk and Palace 't Loo for 1st time.
- I went for a trip on the Spido for the 1st time.
- I went to Paris - again.
- It snowed on my birthday! I cannot recall a time that happened before.
- I started a recipe blog.
- One of my cousins became a father and one of my girlfriends had a 2nd daughter.
- I met a lot of my mother's extended family at a family reunion.
- My trip to Egypt was cancelled and rescheduled to 2011 (next week actually!)
- I attended Red Hair Day this Summer.
Phew, I'm exhausted!
30/11/2010
Cute book
Guess what I came across at the sales dept of Donner (a.k.a. book addict's heaven on earth)?
Tadá:
Some hilarious examples:
The King
Audrey Hepburn
and Jacky O
The Beatles
Charlie Chaplin and
Marilyn Monroe
Chances of me ever knitting one of these dolls? Slim to none.
But I thought this book was just too cute not to have (especially on sale) :-)
Tadá:
Some hilarious examples:
Audrey Hepburn
and Jacky O
Charlie Chaplin and
Marilyn Monroe
Chances of me ever knitting one of these dolls? Slim to none.
But I thought this book was just too cute not to have (especially on sale) :-)
21/11/2010
HP 7-1
Sinds deze week draait de nieuwste Harry Potter in de bioscoop - yay!
This week the latesy Harry Potter hit cinemas - yay!
This week the latesy Harry Potter hit cinemas - yay!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)