Marijke Helwegen has a problem: there is no one to keep her grave. That is why she chooses to be cremated. “I don’t want to end in a grave overgrown by weeds.”
The end is getting closer and closer for the 76-year-old Marijke Helwegen and that is why she is actively working on the end of her life. She has since decided what should happen to her body after her death. She would like to be scattered in a sculpture garden in ‘s-Graveland. “I can’t think of a better place,” she says in the Party.
No grave
Marijke actually wanted a funeral, but: “I didn’t have children, my brothers have died, and my parents and parents -in -law no longer live. So there is no one who could keep track of my grave. And I don’t want to end up in a grave overgrown by weeds.”
She continues: “If I am honest, I think a grave is better, but because there is no one who can keep up with this after my death, I opt for a cremation and scattering.”
Kill a lot
At the moment there is not something that makes Marijke fear for a quick death, but: “I do notice that I am now more concerned with death. That’s because lately there have died so many incredibly well -known Dutch people. Think of Loretta Schrijver, Rob de Nijs, Dieuwertje Blok and Ron Brandsteder.”
“But also actress Petra Laseur, the daughter of the late actress Mary Dresselhuys. And I also want to name singer and actress Martine Bijl, who died in 2019.”
Forget?
Does Marijke think she will be forgotten by the people after her death? “I am not afraid of being forgotten, but I hope there is someone here and there who thinks about me with a smile on my face.”
“And that he or she then says to others: well, that was one of them, that Marijke. But she has always been very kind to every animal and really loved it. Even if it was a spider.”