Family

I don’t have any blood family left. And I have family.

Last night twelve of us came together at the Wok Dynasty restaurant in Lochristi, Belgium. The sources of this family for me are Lydia Dutrieue and Jo Nachtergaele, two of the four Belgian folks I met on a hiking trail beside the Canadian Rockies in 2017. Sadly Jo died in 2022.

Friendships spread from Lydia and Jo to their daughter Lore and their son Baziel. Both of them visited me in Canada – Baziel in 2019, Lore in 2022. And to Lore’s boyfriend Florian.

And then there’s Marie-paule: Lydia’s mother, and her friend Chris. Luc: Lydia’s boyfriend. Frans: Lydia’s brother, plus his partner Els and his daughter Elise. And Willem, a friend to many.

The family of us sat at a big round table in Wok Dynasty. Everyone could see everyone. During the evening, I kept changing seats so I could have 1-1 conversations with each person. And I did.

We connected

We laughed

We joyed in each other’s presence