Romee

Romée told me last Wednesday that she would prefer to live with her mother again for a while. I am grateful for that education that allows me to better place things. It does hurt. It is important not to link things that have nothing to do with each other. I'm feeling a bit sick this weekend and things like this hit me harder. Then be careful not to react emotionally. Of course it can also hurt. Good thing, too. I would be more worried if it didn't affect me anymore. Something I'm sometimes afraid of. Eventually you can no longer feel it. Shit, life, not knowing what we are doing here, who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Little by little I'm starting to see and understand things. Like everything happening at the same time. And that you can feel everything at the same time. There are no previous and next lives. There are billions of simultaneous lives. And we are all one, the same, the same. And therefore also all connected.

Consciousness is a strange thing as you explore it more and more. The world is not separate from your body. It is also a body and it all flows into each other. All one and connected behind the curtains. The world is where your head is. How we have all been brainwashed by life and then can be set free by that same life. Ideas. Ideas. Ideas.

Romee. She turned 16 years old. Crazy. I think she is such a beautiful woman! Romée Cardoen, February 14, 2009 11:33 am. We had previously attended a prenatal course. Learning to breathe for Mélanie. So we were well prepared, maybe a little too well prepared. Sometime around midnight, Mélanie woke me up to say her water had broken. In that course they told us that you should not immediately drive to the hospital. Patience. Wait until there is enough dilation to drive to the hospital. And so Mélanie told me to keep sleeping. No problemmmm for Lieven Cardoen. Back then, sleeping was still a hobby, a passion. But so at 9am the midwife came and suddenly things had to happen very quickly. There was already about 8 cm dilation. It's been a long time, maybe I'm wrong. In any case, there was enough dilation to drive very quickly to the hospital. Otherwise Romée would have been born at Adolf Baeyensstraat 42. Apparently there was not even a chance that Romée would be born in the car**. Fortunately, we made it to the hospital. And a few hours later Romée was already there. Mélanie didn't waste any time. They did another epidural, but whether that made much difference...

At 11:33 in the morning you were there Romée Cardoen. Crazy. Cheeky. Births are of brutal beauty. Two most profound experiences of my life, the births of my two daughters. I was then allowed to hold you in my arms and walk around while the nurses were busy with mom. On the other side of the hallway, the sun was shining into a room. Then immediately introduced you to the sun. That's how we stood there together in the sun about 16 years ago. The beginning of your life and many many adventures.

A very quick astrology online gives me the following:
Aquarius with Gemini ascendant
She is independent, autonomous and has progressive ideas. An unusual, rebellious and revolutionary spirit.
Weaknesses: Too distant and impersonal.

We are going to ignore the weaknesses, you still have plenty of time to find out. A whole life. 16 years. Hupsa. Unbelievable. Thank you for everything I learned from you! Thanks for all the wonderful memories! Thank you for the many Saturdays crafting, baking cupcakes, swimming, Bellewaerde, climbing, walking the dogs, playing on playgrounds, indoor playgrounds (noooooooo hell), learning to cycle in Ostend near Amalia, climbing trees, traveling to Camping Kiwi, the ski trip with Aunt Els, ... abundance, abundance, abundance.

So, thank you for the young woman you have become. Intelligent, funny, attentive, caring, handsome, articulate, smooth, sporty, mathematical, ... We will find other ways to continue to learn from each other. Take your time, feel what you need and get out of your comfort zone every now and then. Romée Cardoen, there is nothing you can do that would make me not want to see you again.

Aho.