What connects Ottawa and Apeldoorn, Netherlands?

Today I went to Apeldoorn for a cycling ride. Twenty kilometers for Apeldoorn I have parked my car and gone on bike direction of the palace “het Loo”. There is a special monument: "The man with The two hats".

In the City of Apeldoorn, The Man With Two Hats monument symbolizes many dualities. The two hats in and of themselves represent a time when to come through the war with one hat was something of a feat. It represents the end of the horrors of war but in the same vein the peace and freedom that continue to elude many countries today. It symbolizes the two countries of Canada and the Netherlands. The outstretched arms symbolize the liberation of the Netherlands and also the reaching out of country to country, people to people. The visage, one of sadness and deep meditation and also one of serenity and peace. With the donation of this monument, the Netherlands pays a lasting tribute to Canada. A statue identical to this one stands in Ottawa, Ontario. The twin monuments symbolically link Canada and the Netherlands, forever close friends.

Of course, I will also visit that statue and I put the link in my trip, also symbolic to my grandfather who has sat in the resistance and the gratitude of Netherlands to Canada. It was a rainy trip with lots of hills. My bicycle was fully loaded and it went fine. Great. It is in these moments that I notice that I am ready. In the sense that I do want to bike. Yet I fear the cold, wind and tough conditions. The lead is heavy but not as heavy as the disease Sarcoidosis itself.

Near the monument it was very quiet, ,maybe because there was road recovery and it was partly because of the weather. I have asked a man if he wanted to make a picture. He took the time neat and made the picture friendly while it was still raining!! Thanks!

My first girlfriend also lives in Apeldoorn and I had just got her voice mail when she called back. It was okay to get a cup of coffee. It was very cozy and nice talk again after so many years. But the most special thing is that she also has Sarcoidosis (it is not contagious or so). It has probably cost her, her kidneys and has a donor kidney. It goes pretty good at the moment with her. The disease is stable but she still uses a lot of daily medication with stuff like Prednisone.

The time flew and I went back into the rain again with a good feeling and cycled to the car.

It was a day in which I have ride a 47 km and it felt like I could do is a over again. It went perfectly!

It still is very nice if you see someone after all this time and find out that the other is actually didn’t changed a bit. Thanks for the coffee..!