Henk was my brother - in -law in that he married my sister BUT , he was my brother. He came into my life when I was still in my teens and he has never left.. even now. He was there when my parents died ..strong and supportive ; he was there when my marriage dissolved and became in many ways a surrogate father to my two children. He is in no small way , one of the reasons they became the wonderful people they are today. He didn't always agree with the decisions I made in my life and he always let me know altho' seldom with words. Even those times, I knew he loved me and wanted only the best for me and mine. Over the years we have shared , along with other family , many good and not so good times.. he was always there in the background , the one sure solid enduring male influence in my life. I have spent large periods of time with Beatrice and Henk in the past two years as another major change took place in my life. His strength , humour, and steadfastness helped me in ways he never knew . In Dec. I came again from BC to be with my son 's family during a difficult time and to help in whatever way I could with the care that Henk was beginning to require. We spent many precious hours sharing stories of our respective childhoods, his in Holland during the war and mine here as a rather bratty minister's kid. We laughed often and cried a bit and bonded even closer than we had before. Many years ago, I changed my first name to Angelena. Initially he couldn't remember it... I had been Carmen Alice as long as he had known me..but he never stopped trying .. he was sure at some point that I had changed it to Sophia and so because of Henk, I am now known as Angelena Sophia.. a name I so love. We talked of that and so many other things during that precious time . The day in late Jan I had to leave to go back to BC , I put off saying goodbye to him as long as I could. When I did, we both knew that we were REALLY saying goodbye. I hugged him, kissed him and told him that I loved him. This is his response.." I LOVE YOU TO...AFTER ALL, ISN'T THAT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT'. Because Henk has always been a man of few words, these words are all the more precious. They were a gift to me and an echo of what I have always believed. I pass them on to whoever reads this as one of his gifts to the world. Travel well my sweet brother.... Angelena Sohpia .