Exactly 50 years ago, on July 4th 1970, my baby sister Heleen was born in the Netherlands, during our family's summer break. Until a few months before, we were living in Washington DC (where she would have been born on a holiday!) and soon after Heleen's arrival, we moved to Bern, Switzerland. So basically my sister had lived in 3 countries at the age of 2 months.
After many stops, Heleen now lives in Glasgow with her own family, and I wish I could tele-transport myself there for the day to wish her Happy Birthday!! The "in-person" birthday greeting will have to wait though until Alex and I get to Glasgow: it's the first -and much awaited- stop after Greenland and Iceland, as you can see on our SkyVector itinerary (EGPK is Glasgow airport in ICAO language).
In the mean time, let me tell you a few things about Heleen. She was a very cute baby and liked to dress like Madonna as a teenager. Then, she became a scientist (studied chemistry in Leiden, the oldest University of the Netherlands) and moved into start-ups and consulting. She has recently written and published 2 books that have won awards and is also a proud mother, who sends first day of school pictures every year!
Given our geographical separation (parents: that's what you get when you take your children around the world....), we don't physically see each other often but that's our life and it's OK!
Below a few pictures of the rare encounters between my brother, sister and me (1995, 2011), as well as the most recent, locked-down one (courtesy of Zoom).
I am very much looking forward to my first visit to Glasgow ever, but even more to seeing Heleen. Have a great July 4th!
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