The vase is glued back together with gold glue. “That gives life a new shine,” Van Leeuwen explains. She looks at the end result with satisfaction. “The vase is the symbolism of life. When everything falls apart, you find the strength somewhere to make it into a coherent whole. It may even be stronger and more powerful than it was.”
The drop-in center in Hoogeveen is a place for people dealing with cancer. The organization hopes to help people in a difficult period in an accessible way.
“It is real contact for fellow sufferers. How you do that with each other does not really matter. One person comes for coffee, the other does something creative here. We find support in each other, recognition and recognition,” explains internal coordinator Hennie Bouwmeester. .
Another way of expressing yourself is writing notes for the twisted hazel tree that is in the glued together vase. “We mainly read that people experience a lot of strength and benefit greatly from their environment,” says Van Leeuwen.
Ultimately, Bouwmeester hopes that the vase will ‘travel’ to hospitals and GP practices in Drenthe. So that the drop-in center can collect many more life lessons from (former) cancer patients.
“And that people also consciously live day by day and are not always concerned with tomorrow. Because perhaps you should only deal with today,” Van Leeuwen concludes.