Goodbye Papa

I am deeply sadned by the passing of my 'grandpa Dave', a.k.a. Papa.

Papa was not my biological grandfather but the grandfather of my extended family and by far the grandfather figure that has been the longest in my life. A lot longer than my biological grandfather.

The last time I saw him was in 1999, on the eve of my wedding.

That is at this moment my biggest regret.

Papa was a lawyer and met during his years at Stanford university a lot of foreign students. He became friends with a Belgian student and that is how we got introduced by mutual friends. This gave me a chance to come over and spent a couple of months in an American family and travel the country.

We have been family ever since.

Papa had Parkinsons's disease and his condition deteriored rapidly over the past weeks. His death does not come as a surprise but I was nevertheless in shock when I heard the news yesterday morning.

I will remember Papa as a charming man, a funny man, an educated man, a wise man, a kind man. I could listen to his stories for hours. He was a man of statue although he was a man that prefered to keep a low profile.

A wise man said :

You will never be completely at home again.

Because part of your heart will always be elsewhere.

That is the price you pay for the richness of knowing and loving people in more than one place.

That is exaclty what I feel now. Thousands of miles away from the place I would actually want to be, consoling and mourning with my American family.

Papa,

Thank you for everything you did for me. Thank you for your wisdom, your kindness towards me.

Please continue to look after us.

May God welcome you in his Kingdom and grand you in his infinite wisdom, eternal peace...