The new memorial site for the family from Raamsdonksveer that crashed on the A59 near Sprang-Capelle on Friday evening is popular. People regularly drop by at the kiosk in the center of the village to lay flowers or to reflect on the poem by barrel talker and poet Andy Marcelissen.
There are flowers on the Heereplein, but also cuddly toys such as a bear, a dog and a hare. There was no room left at the family’s house. Reason for the municipality to set up a new memorial place and to move everything.
Andy Marcelissen is visibly impressed: “We will still be talking about this accident in sixty years. It made such a deep impression. It hits Raamsdonkveer in the soul. It is terrible. It keeps you busy all the time.”
On Sunday morning, Marcelissen always writes a poem for the local radio, this time on request about the accident. The municipality then asked him if they could place it at the memorial site.
“I was at the scene of the accident this morning on the highway. You can still see the traces of the accident. That goes to the marrow,” he says.
A woman comes to take a look. “The girl was in my granddaughter’s class. She came over for lunch. She is so impressed by the accident. Same class and same age. to sum up, a whole family.”
Another woman brings a candle. “It is my heart. I wanted to show compassion. It is very sad. I have also experienced something like this myself. My son was also killed by a car forty years ago,” says the woman with a trembling voice. “The whole family gone, it’s sad. I wish the relatives a lot of strength.”
Andy Marcelissen’s poem:
The silence
Squeaky brakes
Slipping tires
Metal twisted
Burning
Then the silence
Unbreakable
Dead silence
Starts to speak
And then the crowds
The noise
But too late
They are all…