The 101st birthday of Albert Ruben from Assen may be the most special of his life. He can celebrate his birthday on Christmas Day with his brother Jan. After twenty years, the brothers are reunited.
In the RTL program All You Need Is Love, presenter Robert ten Brink attacked 100-year-old Albert during a Christmas concert. “No, right?” Albert stammers when he hears his brother coming in. “How did you do that?” asks his wife Annie.
The couple is taken aback by it. They have not seen Jan (94) in person for twenty years. The brothers do video call every Sunday. What are they discussing? “Anything and everything,” says Albert. “This way we stay informed of what is happening in the family.”
And unfortunately, these have also been sad stories recently. In Canada, Jan had to say goodbye to his wife in August. “We were together for 55 years,” he says on the bus on the way to Assen.
But Jan won’t be alone at Christmas. Jan calls it ‘a bit strange’ that he can embrace his brother Albert after twenty years. The two brothers are the only ones left of a family with seven children.
When Jan walks into the room, he walks straight into the arms of his brother Albert. “I like that so much. Jeemieneetje,” Albert says. “This is so beautiful.” Annie also gets a hug and a kiss. “You don’t think this is possible.”
With his All You Need Is Love bus, Robert ten Brink brought more surprises to Drenthe. Robin from Zuidlaren was able to embrace his girlfriend from Ecuador.