August 26th, 2009

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Wednesday Aug 26

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

This week is going fast. I did not realize that I have not done a post since Saturday. Sunday morning was another great sermon from the pastor at the nearby St.Augustinus. The choir members almost outnumbered the attendance. Typical phenomenon in the European churches. Great voices. Much of the liturgy was sung in Latin and since the average age of the parishoners was above 65 there was a fair number who knew the latin chants. What a contrast with the services I attended in the Philippines and Vietnam, as an example, where the average age is in the thirties. I sent out the invitations for the Friday September 4 open house here. The confirmations are starting to trickle in.

My cousin Gido van Ommen, the son of the uncle who used to be a member here at “de Schinkel”, stopped by on Monday. We then went to see my aunt who lives in a rest home in this neighborhood. The likeness of us two cousins is more obvious than it used to be when we were younger. I’ll have pictures on the next occasion. Yesterday, Guus Bierman stopped by. He is a good friend from the old neighborhood and he is also a sponsor on my web site, the owner of Contender Sail Cloth. Lots of good memories and friends passed in the revue over a superb Italian dinner. When searching for old friends there is always the chance that there will be a disappointment. To-day I got through to Dick Hooijer’s home. Anneke told me the sad news that to-morrow will be the fourth anniversary of his death. I saw them last in 1991. We used to sail with Dick as teenagers from the marina next door.