Gerrie and Geert were 15 when they fell in love. They had a relationship for five years, but it all had to be secret. Gerrie was Catholic and Geert Protestant. Eventually Geert’s parents found out and they had to separate. Two years ago they met again after seventy years. Love is back too. “She is my beacon,” says Geert proudly.
Gerrie and Geert, now both 91, attended the Municipal Lyceum Eindhoven together. As 15-year-olds they saw each other on the schoolyard. “I immediately thought he was a handsome boy,” says Gerrie. Geert also immediately liked her: “Our eyes met. She was a beautiful girl.”
They had a relationship for five years, but it all had to be secret. Gerrie was Catholic and Geert Protestant. Eventually Geert’s parents found out and he was sent away to Amsterdam. Gerrie’s heart broke. “My world collapsed,” she says. She didn’t see it coming. “It was terrible, you don’t expect it.” Geert was a little less sad. “I pushed the whole of Brabant away. The whole relationship was defined by fear,” he explains.
“It was so nice to hear her voice again.”
The two moved on with life. Gerrie in Eindhoven and Geert in Amsterdam. They both married someone else and had children. Seventy years later they found each other again. A newspaper asked Gerrie if she wanted to write something about her old school. That article ended up with Geert, thanks to his sister. “I saw her name in the article and thought: gosh, she’s still alive! I would like to see her again,” he says.
Finally he got her number. It took a while before he got hold of her, because Gerrie doesn’t answer an unknown number. But after five calls she became curious. “And it was so nice to hear her voice again,” says Geert. “After that first conversation I thought: he thought about me,” Gerrie responds.
“My children say I’m smiling again.”
The two, who are now both widows, chat and decide to meet each other. It is a beautiful reunion and it soon feels like old times. “I was constantly thinking about the past,” says Geert. “Love came back all over again.” Gerrie also clicked immediately. “I don’t think that love ever really went away. It has always been preserved.”
They have now lived together in Eindhoven for more than two years. They walk, go out for dinner or book a hotel for a few days. “She is my beacon,” says Geert. Gerrie is no longer happy either. “My children say I’m smiling again.”
