A friendship cherished
It is the nature of friendship and the
things that you remember of people who have contributed to recognising the
beauty of knowing and sharing their lives. It seems like an age, for it is
13 years to the day that my dear friend Dick van Galen Last passed on.
A tall and skinny Dutchman, wise in
experience, affable in temperament, a polyglot and gatherer of people from all
the corners of the earth. An erudite archivist that specialised in world war
history, especially where the imperialists and colonisers enlisted the colonies
in the wars.
It was a chance meeting in Paris in 1997
that began our friendship and from then we maintained contact, he in Amsterdam
whilst I was resident in London. When I moved to the Netherlands in 2000, he
was my host and he helped me settle down as I found my feet.
He was a wonderful cook and we
regularly had soirees at his home in the North of Amsterdam. In so many ways,
he was such a great help, someone I could call on for advice and other things.
For his 50th birthday, we met up at Café Beaubourg in Paris for
brunch. There are so many memories to recall.
A meeting vivid
We last saw each other when he came to
visit me, a week after I was discharged from the hospital on Friday, the 16th of
October 2009. We were to go for a meal, but I was too frail to go out, we just
sat and chatted in my living room over tea and biscuits.
There was the occasional phone call,
even as he was rushing to finish his PhD thesis. Just after Christmas, he first
informed me that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, we shared
the same oncologist, and we even thought our chemotherapy schedules would land us
in the same treatment room.
A few weeks later in the New Year, he
defended his PhD, witnessed by friends who said they could see strength and
spirit ebb out of him during his viva voce. I could not attend as it was just two
days after my penultimate chemotherapy session, I just did not have the strength.
A death announced
Then, it was the Wednesday morning on
the 3rd of February 2010 that I received a phone call, the caller ID
for Dick gave me the thought to congratulate him on his PhD defence, but it was
Ousmane, his lodger on the phone, Ousmane came to clean my apartment every
fortnight. He was bearing news, rather shocking news, Dick had passed on the
day before.
I am glad Ousmane took one decision in
consideration of Dick, he refused that Dick be taken to the morgue, and so,
Dick was dressed up and laid on his bed for all of us his friends to visit and
pay our respects, even as funeral arrangements were made and friends were
coming in from other countries to attend the obsequies.
He was interred on the 8th
of February, just 2 days short of his 58th birthday after a
well-attended service. I could not attend the interment itself because I needed
to attend what eventually became my last session of chemotherapy. Even with the
apparent passage of time, the thoughts still feel fresh and raw. In all, I remember
quite fondly, my one true Dutch friend, Dick van Galen Last. Rest in peace.
Some memories
Blog - Dick
Blog - Dick: As he lay
Blog - Seeing Dick Off
Blog - Remembering
Dick van Galen Last
Blog - There was
only one Dick
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