Up early and… when I ask Mama Irma Irma how she slept, she says ‘basta bon’. Is that the power of habit? Or did she just sleep reasonably well? No one knows. Not even Mama Irma herself. I help Mem with Mama Irma’s mouthwash routine. Mem has stopped giving Mama Irma her stomach medication. Her stomach is now well protected with a gel around it…
I tell Mama Irma that I’m going to mass, papia ku Dios pa yuda bo, pa duna forza.
There is lovely singing in the church again and there is a party for the scouts, who are sitting in the pews with a group of twenty and are brought to the front at the end of Mass. Bendicion! It is also someone’s birthday, so at the end of Mass we sing “happy birthday”…
At 10 a.m. Mem and I go to the Daniel country house, where there is a ‘marshe’. Marie Louise and Dorette are already there, as I had arranged, so we drink coffee together and talk, also about Mama Irma. Dorette has a story about saying farewell, saying goodbye to the physical body of this life. Her father died and was convinced that he would be reunited with his father and mother. Her husband died and felt the same way. Dorette says she knows that this is true, there is no question about it.
Back home, Mama Irma is eating jambo cu funchi, Thelma serves me a plate too, mmmm.
I have a long phone call with Moniek and ask her if she wants to come over.
At 4 p.m., we go for a nice swim. It’s a hot day here, even though there’s a breeze. The heat makes you tired.
I call Uncle Hoebi to see if he’ll be there tomorrow, then Mem and I will go there tomorrow.
Jeanette is doing the evening shift; she comes to change the nappy.
At 9.30 p.m., we go to bed.