Danique Gounalakis-van Beers (27) from Alphen visits her 87-year-old grandmother every week. Together they reminisce about Danique’s childhood, such as when Grandpa enjoyed reading aloud from ‘Het Fluitketeltje’ by Annie MG Schmidt. Danique has the illustration of this book tattooed on her ribs as a reminder of her deceased grandfather.
Danique was born in Loon op Zand and now lives with her husband in Alphen. “Grandma still lives in my native village. She is 87 and she lives on her own. She is very vital and sweet. Every week we reminisce and discuss the gossip from the village. We just have quality time together.”
Thinking about the past, Danique has beautiful memories of her grandfather and grandmother. She and her brother never had to go to daycare after school, because the grandparents babysat. “They regularly took us for walks in the woods, we went to the Efteling or we just sat in the garden at home.”
When Danique was 10 years old, her father died after being ill for a long time. “Grandfather and grandmother supported my mother at the time. My father was an only child and we were their only grandchildren.” The bond between the grandchildren and grandparents became increasingly closer.
Danique remembers well that they always went to grandpa and grandma’s for a sandwich for lunch on Fridays. “Grandma always got a fish on Friday. Together with Grandpa I would eat a whole mackerel,” she says. “And when I used to sit on grandpa’s lap, he would read from Het Fluitketeltje with all kinds of voices and a lot of empathy.”
It’s little things like that that give Danique a warm feeling. “Those cozy, homely memories, but they are the memories that I cherish very much.”
Her grandfather died when she was sixteen. A few years ago she decided to get a tattoo for him. “The illustration of The Whistling Kettle. It has always stayed with me, that specific image. Grandpa always pointed to it. I think if I ask my grandmother, she can still conjure up the book.”
Danique does not have any children of her own at the moment, but the desire is there. “So I hope that grandma will live for many more years, so that she can experience it,” she says. And who knows, grandma might be able to read from Het Fluitketeltje to her great-grandchildren.