My Dutch Mother

I had just completed my doctoral degree in linguistics and started giving English classes in the afternoons and evenings when I met Frau Dr. Ine Haude-Koster in one of my English classes at the German VHS in Bonn. She was in her end seventies or even 80 years old. Yet, she was the most elegant and attractive lady I had ever met with an extraordinary cultural and linguistic interest. She was still a driver but suffered from regular headaches. She told me she finished her degree in medicine at the age of 60 when she got divorced and after dedicating her life to supporting her husband´s  surgery and medical career.

We met a few times after the classes and I visited her in her beautiful old house in the old city quarter (Altstadt) in Bonn. Soon a very special relationship developed and we kept in touch. She was practically my Dutch mother who didn´t give birth to me. This is the last letter she wrote from Holland after moving back to die there.

Dear Mother, I really miss you and now that I found your letter and address I will come to Holland to put flowers on your grave.

Jamshid

Bremen, 10 May 2016