Life and death are never far apart

Christmas is family time. The time in which you slow down and reflect on what really counts in life. But for me it is also the time of the dead.

Because in a time like this one becomes aware of who has left us. Who you will never celebrate a Christmas or something with again. Who was torn from life in the blink of an eye.

For the last three years I have been reminded of an experience at this time ...

I can still clearly remember that a good friend from the family called our home on the Saturday before Christmas Eve to clarify something with us, because she was also our hairdresser at the same time. It was actually an insignificant conversation. We laughed and talked.

But in retrospect, the conversation burned into my memory. Because nobody suspected at the moment that it would be the last. Forever!


They call came on Monday.

Maria died.

There was total emptiness in my head.

It felt like time stood still.

None of that made sense to me. Because 24 hours earlier I had spoken to her. How can that be? From now on she was torn from life without being asked.


We were later told that an aneurysm had ruptured in her head. And I was one of the last people she spoke to before she died.

It was all so unreal and depressing. Because how can you celebrate a festival knowing that an important part of a family has been torn away?

The funeral was the day after Christmas. That was my first funeral. At the same time I was glad that I went because I owed her that in my eyes. But on the other hand, it was also something of a goodbye forever.

So always try to be grateful and never break up with another person in an argument. Because you never know when you will see people again or whether you will ever see them again.