Today is Family Day!
We woke up at 8am, and had breakfast at 9 as we had to leave for Nunspeet by 9:45am. Sandra, Rick, Frank, Luke, Bart, Astrid, and myself all piled into two cars and drove about 1 hour to Nunspeet. My fathers aunt, Elly, has a camper at a campground there and was hosting the party there.
We parked at the nearby train station for everyone to meet and walk to the campground together. After saying hello to everyone and catching up a bit, there was a HUGE lookout tower there as well, so a few of us went up to the top (pictures of the view are below). Once everyone had arrived, we walked about 15 minutes to the campground.
We sat and talked for a while, and then all of the kids went to the lake to go swimming. So I went and sat with Laurens and Yentl to watch (they are my second cousins that are my age, that I haven’t seen since I was VERY young).
Eventually everyone came to the lake to sit and enjoy the 78º weather! It was such a lovely day to see everyone. But as the day drew closer to an end it began to hit me that I would most likely not see these people for another 5+ years – or even ever again for some of the more older ones. It was so difficult holding back tears as I sat and watched everyone talk and enjoy each others company.
When the time came to say goodbye to everyone, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I cried as soon as my dad’s aunt, Hanneke, hugged me and said, “this will be the last time we see each other for a long time, isn’t it?” Then it came time to say goodbye to Astrid and Bart and I just couldn’t stop crying. I was quite a mess! Francis (my dad’s aunt), gave me a hug and walked me to Michael’s car.
Michael is my father’s cousin, and he drove his daughter, Benthe, and son, Silas, and myself to Gorinchem where we would be staying with his ex-wife, Christel. Christel and I have always had a special bond, ever since I was a baby and visited. It will be nice to spend a couple days with her and the kids!
Enjoy the photos of Family Day! We forgot to take a group photo, which makes me very sad 😦
Trip to the Fatherland 2019 