Seen on Facebook: When I saw these tulips

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Irize Loots wrote on Facebook:

Most people on Facebook are unaware that I flew to South Africa (from Holland) just after my 55th birthday. Mostly because I decided to move off the Facebook radar for a while to just embrace life.

Despite the hysteria around the South African strain of Covid, feared in Europe because of its fast-spreading properties, my daughter and I felt devastated to “go home” after we couldn’t for such a long haul in 2020, and our last “home visit” was in October 2019.

Our bi-annual visits with our South African friends and family, but especially with my 96-year old Mamma-Ouma, and with my roots, was simply well overdue and had to happen!

After three weeks there I decided on the spur of the moment, just before our take-off back to Holland, that I needed a few extra alone-days in my country of origin. My daughter then flew back without me.

Then, before seeing my mother again for a “ONE visit per week by ONE family member” in an isolated and disinfected guest room in her frailty care centre at the old age home, I again had myself tested with a Rapid Test like I did while there to not expose her to nasty viruses. I tested positive.

So... my planned extra alone-week then became two weeks in isolation, and another few days to pack, see my mother once more and fly back to my Dutch life. 

It wasn’t really horrific or awful or terrible, because I did have very good company: My eldest brother and his wife whom came to visit me after a year in Australia from where they were also not allowed to fly “home” to South-Africa at all, got the virus at the same time! So us three were sick together, and we were therefore able to take care of each other during this time.

Despite the illness that hit us, which we each had in different degrees of seriousness, and fought individually in our own ways, it was a time of intense togetherness and with that came life-affirming blessings.

In its essence this together time was a strange, unexpected but beautiful gift that is still making my heart grow proportionally daily with incredible, and grateful memories.

When I saw these tulips yesterday in Amsterdam at all the stations – after an unofficial ten days in isolation at my Dutch home after my arrival – I was reminded that Life with so much beauty can only be celebrated as it is an amazing GIFT. 

Today I celebrate Life by sharing the above true story here – also as (a future) reminder!

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