Must have been tired. Woke up at 6:45 a.m.
Helped Mem. Rinsed Mama Irma’s mouth, gave her medicine to protect her stomach.
She doesn’t want it and then we get into an argument: ‘Mi ta papia ku DIos ku e tuma mi,’ says Mama Irma. Mem: papia ku Dios ku e ta yuda bo, pa Mem, pa Thelma, pa Guus….
I talked about it at length yesterday with MarieLouise, who worked in a hospice for years. Yes, that’s how it goes, I would say leave Mama Irma alone and be a little loving, hold her hand, stroke her. Mem speaks in a commanding tone: ‘abri boca, medicijn ta bon pa bo’ (open your mouth, the medicine is good for you). Even when the phone rings and someone asks for Irma, I hear Mem say, ‘e ta bon’ (she’s fine), while she lies there so weak in bed and can’t do anything anymore, just lie there and sleep and be tired.
Mem starts the car to see if there is a leak in the radiator overflow tank. He sees a small leak. He accelerates again to see if it gets worse. Bang! The throttle cable breaks. Ouch, ouch, ouch.
I call Janus for advice. He suggests temporarily attaching the throttle cable to another wire. Mem follows his advice. I agree to go to him at 10:30 a.m., after the online court hearing.
Mem comes to sit down and says that the nurse told her that Mama Irma has bedsores. It’s better to lay her on her side.
He wonders why all this has to happen at the end of life. Why doesn’t God come and take her? That would be better…
Thelma arrives around 10:15 a.m., just as the court session with the judge is over. I have had my say about the two plots that I believe should be one. The judge says that if they were one, an extra driveway could still be built.

However, the judge is surprised that municipal green space has been lost and that this has not been discussed.
The ruling will be given in six weeks.
When we arrive at Janus’s door at 11 a.m., he is not there. I call him and he says he has called me twice. After checking, it turns out that he called my old chippie number from my old Nokia phone.
He says, ‘Just wait, I’m on my way.’
He gets to work on the bicycle brake cable we bought at Lily’s on Tera Cora, right next to the petrol station. This type of brake cable has exactly the same connection that you thread through an eye.
Once again, Janus proves what a skilled mechanic he is. After 45 minutes, the job is done. When I ask him how much I owe him, he says, ‘Just give me whatever you want, you’re my friend.’ I give him thirty guilders and ask if that’s enough. Yes, says Janus, give it to the boy (his assistant).
Back home, where Thelma has bought extra materials to prevent bedsores, a kind of slippers made of light foam rubber that you put on your feet.
A short siesta. Fifteen minutes, but refreshing nonetheless.
At 4:30 p.m., I drive into town. I have arranged to meet three former students from Radulphus: Valentina, Norediz and Natalie at De Gouverneur in Otrobanda. It was very pleasant, reminiscing about when I taught here and when they and we went to the Netherlands.
Valentina went to live on Vossedijk in Nijmegen and I visited her there once to see how she was doing.
I chatted with Norediz about Maastricht, where she went to study. She moved to Wyck and says it’s just like here, Wyck and the bridge to Maastricht, Punda and the bridge to Otrobanda.
I got home at 9:30 p.m. All dark with Mem and Mama Irma. Off to bed.