Nellie van Loon was born in a small village ‘s Gravenmoer, Brabant in 1930. She was among the three youngest children in a family of twelve siblings. Her memories also capture the Second World War. For example. She recalls the lockdown past times. Her mother, our grandma, sometimes had to break the ‘downtime’ rule to get food and milk. Our mum also remembers the sounds of the V2 bombs, launched by the German Wehrmacht.
After the war, in 1948, our mum left ‘s Gravenmoer to study nursery and psychiatry. She started in Noordwijk, Dr. Willem van den Bergh Foundation, and moved to Rotterdam Eudokia hospital, in 1952. She combined her study with nursing, both in Noordwijk and in the Eudokia hospital. She and her colleagues took care of the injured and refugees of the Dutch North Sea Flood of 1953! Our mum had been a nurse from 1948 until 1963, when she married our dad. She also managed to obtain a degree in psychiatric nursing. […] After our mum married our dad, she continued working as a nurse in the Elderly Home, Achter de Hoven in Sprang-Capelle. In 1973, the board of the elderly home asked our mum to become director. She did, and our family moved into the elderly home. So, my younger sister, my elder bro and I had a lot of grandma’s and granddads. Because the regional furniture company went bankrupt, our dad lost his job. He became our house dad. Find some of my memories in this link.
The psychiatric study books of our mum were stored in the bookcase in the living room. I started to read them from an early age. At first, I could not understand the books very well, but I started to re-read and psychiatry became a favorite hobby. Three scientist still have my special interest. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Jan Foudraine and Erich Fromm.
On December 16th 2020, our mom (1930) has been taken to the Elisabeth Hospital in Tilburg because she broke her hip. The nursing and staff deserve at least a 10+…in all what they did, really. Friendly, helpful, and so on. Priceless Care! Thank you so much. […] We, her children, church members, and our niece could visit our mom. Secretly, we were a bit relieved that she was taken care of for at least six weeks in the rehabilitation center because she did not fully grasp the structural vulnerability of her physical and mental condition. She is 91, but until she broke her hip, she mostly acted like she was 60 & fit…But we already had discovered the bumps on her mobility scooter, because of her racing around in her neighborhood, too fast. We are thankful that at least she had a warm safe place where the nursing has been absolutely wonderful. We have not met one grumpy (sad & tired) nurse over there…If I did, I would fully understand because of the nurses’ amount of overwork due to the pandemic. The nurse even put our mom’s bed by the window so she could watch the clouds go by & the stars at night. Till 8-2, our mom has been revalidating in Damast, a beautiful center near the park, where we walked, with Gabi, who was welcome too! Thank you so much nurses of the ETZ, Elisabeth Hospital, Tilburg!
Tuesday, 23 February 2021, Sprang-Capelle. Our mum still likes to visit our dad, so yesterday afternoon we walked to his grave. She would like a butterfly to be put on the gravestone next to dad’s bird when she finally will be laid down next to our dad.
Sunday, 19 September 2021, Tilburg/Sprang-Capelle. Our mum still lives in her apartment. We arrange daily care because dementia has become part of her life. We appointed a notary and a lawyer to assist us in further steps to keep her as safe as possible. Just like her mother, who also started to suffer from dementia, our mum definitely does not want to move to the elderly home, situated just around the corner of her apartment. She also refuses to come to live with me, in Tilburg. History repeats.
Karin is my sister-in-law. Dirk-Jan met her around 2000. Karin has a leading position at ORO, a large health-care institution for vulnerable people with all kinds of disabilities, and she is very beloved by her colleagues and even more by the people she takes care of. Despite a serious illness, she has had breast cancer with serious surgery as a result, she is back to her old self. She is a person who acts with her head in her heart. Her approach is coupled with a sense of humor, putting things into perspective at the right moments, and warm contacting in emails, phone calls, cards, etc. (indeed, plural) at moments when it is needed.
In the beginning, there were some clashes between me and Karin because Dirk-Jan and I truly have a close relationship. But by now Karin and I know each other’s “manuals” through and through. NO ONE will interfere anymore, not even Dirk-Jan.
Opinion. I fear that Dirk-Jan and I truly would be on valium by now if Karin would not have been around. Karin has a COOL head and a WARM heart, the perfect combination when you have to deal with a stubborn, but super sweet Mum Westerink. Mum…Where to start….We respect her wish to spend her last stages of living independently in her own home. However, we are all very worried. She scurries around the house on her panties behind the walker, she fiddles with her medicines and she sends the home care team away….:-(. […] 9 April 2021: one thing changed. Our mum wears anti-slip socks. She says she enjoys being in her house. That is the most important thing, for us.
Approximimately two to three times a week, I jump on my bike, to Sprang-Capelle.
In 1991 I bought my first bike at Guill v.d. Ven bicycle specialist, Tilburg. […] On friday 9 April, 2021 afternoon around 1.40 PM I got stuck in Loon op Zand, with a broken handlebar of my bicycle. I called Guill v.d. Ven to ask if I could bring the bike in for repair today. Walking, I could just make it, before closing time. The employee offered to pick me up with the van! Within half an hour they were there! What a service! At 4 PM I was back home, with a repaired bike, FREE, no pay! […] If you ever visit Tilburg, hire or buy a bike there!
My brother and sister-in-law do the same, they also visit our mum approximately twice a week. We also have a niece, Ada, living nearby our mum and, last but not least, our church members, who are among the most loving folks I have met in this life. Besides these people, our mum gets a visit from a nurse, two times a day. I feel blessed to have this opportunity!
Saturday 30 April 2022, Sprang-Capelle: On 28 April, at dad’s birthday, mum moved to her final home, an appartment in Elzenhoven, a safe home for elderly people, with a lot of acquaintances and friends.
