We’d visited Henny and Nel straight after we arrived in Holland, and Christopher and I were at Henny’s birthday too. Henny is my mum’s cousin: his mum and my grandmother were sisters. He's also my godfather and has always been a very special part of my life – not unlike a second dad. I’ve got really fond memories of visiting them in Bussum when I was a kid, and riding my bike from Hengelo to there (a 130km trip). We always kept in close contact, and I could never fool Henny – even when I myself didn’t realise I wasn’t being straight, he’d say: ‘draai er nou ‘s niet omheen – wat bedoel je nu’ (now stop avoiding the issue, what do you really mean…).
One of our most special memories is that Henny and Nel made the huge effort to be at our wedding in Australia in 2004.
On July 8 while we were in Berlin I got a call from my sister Anne Marie that Henny had passed away that morning. He quietly slept-in, without any suffering.
Even though we knew he wasn’t well, it still came as a shock, and it’s a huge loss for everybody. To me it’s literally like I’ve lost two dads this year.
The huge turnout at the condolences service and the funeral showed how much Henny was appreciated and loved.
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