My dad and I. We have exactly the same hands and feet. I love sitting next to him, both of us with our feet up and check it once again. The same curves and shape of nails and the same length of toes and fingers. I’ve watched him do so many things with his hands. Painting the house, building an attic, counting bacteria in a sample of cheese, fixing my bike, sanding lenses for his telescope, doing the dishes and sweep chimneys. He is one of the most all round persons I know. And I love him to bits!

As a child, I could always see when he was frustrated or getting angry. His nostrils would sort of widen. It seemed that I was the only one noticing it and I remember thinking: “Stop what you’re doing or saying, can’t you see he’s getting angry!” But I was often able to cheer him up a bit, just with having a nice conversation. And nowadays, talking to him makes me happy as well and when it’s just him and me, we can go on for hours.

My parents have always been able to live out their dreams and ideas. Looking back, these could change quite often, resulting in the fact that they have emigrated back and forth to Australia 2 times, moved around in Holland 4 times and emigrated to France and back as well. The secret of their success is that my mother is very inventive and hard working and my father very flexible and hard working. If they wanted to do something they would find their way.

Just a few examples: To finance my sister’s year abroad, my mother managed to get triple child allowance (which is a lot when you have 4), we ate home made bread for a year and everybody had some extra jobs. One year when we all decided that we wanted to come along on our parents camping trip to Italy, we managed to squeeze the six of us in a Lada station wagon. One had to lie on the luggage in the back, and the other three were on the backseat. We put some suitcases on the roof and if we drove faster than 80 kilometers an hour, the car would start swinging because of all the weight!

This upbringing has given me a lot of confidence in life itself. Knowing that there’s lots of exciting things out there to be seen and done. And trusting in your capabilities to just do the things that you like or want to do. My sisters have the same, they are all wonderful, gifted people, who have traveled a lot, seen a lot, studied a lot and laughed a lot. We have so much to be thankful for!

In 2000, my parents were asked to work as volunteers in a home for missionaries in France. The director of the home offered them a financial construction that would guarantee a 15 percent pay of the investment. This scheme was especially designed for missionaries to build up a pension etc. My parents sold their house and business, invested the money and moved to France. They had been living of the 15 percent for about 5 years, when all of a sudden the payments stopped. It turned out that they had invested all their money in a piramid scheme, together with lots of other missionaries. This scam was set up by former YWAM workers, who have been able to flush away millions of dollars in about 7 years time.

My parents lost all their money. Now they’re living on a minimum budget, both working to save a bit for when they are really old…:). In the mean time, they have set up an organization to get their money, and that of other missionaries back. They are fighting for justice and truth, which turns out to be quite a mission impossible in that part of the missionary world! Nowadays my dad finds it hard to see what worth his life has really had. Not so much because of the financial loss. More because he has lost trust. In other people and even more important, himself.

Something must have happened to his nostrils, or my ability to read it. Because I cannot see the anger and frustration very clearly anymore. But I do know that he is struggling. I just hope and pray that he will be able to look at his children and grandchildren and see what a wonderful job he has done. Raising them, loving them and always showing that there is a big world out there, waiting to enjoy and discover!