Life isn’t always about rainbows and daisies, sunshine and roses. Sometimes we experience pain, suffering, sorrow and loss. Jos, a good friend of ours, recently passed away. He was a big fan of our world bicycle tour. He often gave us positively critical feedback to our posts. We would have loved to see and talk to him again. This blog is in memory of Jos, Mr Blue Sky.
we don't always think about it
about the meaning of the word "together"
but a great loss it is
when "together" does no longer exist
The cremation is at La Grande Suisse in Maastricht. It's a beautiful location for a sad meeting. Anna Lien, one of the grandchildren starts the ceremony. It’s dazzling to see and hear a girl of 9 years old to do this. It takes a lot of guts. More beautiful words follow by Thomas, Maurice, Michelle, Marcel and Ben.
Ben's words end with ELO's song "Mr Blue Sky". The reason why Ben picked this song can be found in Ben's IM to Jos. We didn't translate these words to keep its beauty.
Jos, we're going to miss you.
Jos once asked us if we named our bicycles yet. That’s a funny question. After all, a bicycle does not listen to its name. Back then we couldn’t find a suitable name, but we do like the idea of naming our bicycles. In memory of Jos, Ben now named his bicycle "Mr Blue Sky". In this way Jos is still joining us on our adventure. Linda's bicycle can’t be left behind. We call her "Miss Sunshine". A blue sky with sunshine. Isn’t this a pretty sight?
After the cremation we talk to the children of Lia, Jos's wife. She passed away last year. We were on Zakynthos back then and planted a tree for her. A tree with red and yellow peppers as fruit. A colorful tree just like Lia. Peppers turn out to be her favorite vegetable.
Lia’s children tell us they are going to travel to Zakynthos next year to visit the tree. We planned the tree in Lia's memory as we were unable to attend her funeral. We didn't imagine this would be of such great significance to her children. It’s special to create something beautiful like this.
