After the curfew order was passed, an elderly man stood near two trash cans in the alley where the lights went out, holding a glass of brandy in his hand.
“That’s fine,” I said.
“Do you want that too?”
I shook my head. We were in beautiful corona space, and despite the darkness I could tell he was a little bit wrong. He kicked one of the garbage bags a few small steps.
“Videotapes,” he said. Immediately after that: “I can no longer see them.” He picked up a chip of his brandy, hoping it would be a quick-acting solution to a coat against the cold air and annoying sachet.
“I can no longer watch those tapes – I do not have a video recorder – but I always thought: if it looks like this to me, I can buy one of these on the markplates. But now I have a leak and those tires were under water for three days. So I throw them away. ”
“Annoying.”
He picked up another chip.
“Oh, well ில் In one of those tapes you can still see my father and my mother. My father put my daughter on his lap. My ex was in it too, you heard him talk. We were still … happy I didn’t want to say, but normal, normal. ”
“How sorry you are, you lost it now.”
“Yes… I don’t really know. I always thought: It would be nice if I could see my granddaughter move in soon with her grandparents and talk to them. But really why? ”
“Out of curiosity as to where you are coming from.”
“Do I miss the fact that I never saw or heard my grandparents speak? They were from Friesland. Farmers. At least, my father said, there were actually little memories of his grandparents. What do you really miss?”
“Don’t miss what you don’t know,” I said.
“Exactly. My grandson lives in the United States. She does not speak Dutch. ‘Hello Grandpa.’ I think she thinks my name is “Takoba”. My English is ugly போலவே Like my Frisian, so to speak. ”
The association made sense to me.
“But still …,” he continued, “I’m throwing them away now, those tires. It’s like cleaning up your own history. My ex and my baby are on those other tapes. I haven’t seen them in so long. I would have thrown away my guilt.” But it’s not in those videos. ”
Theodore Holman (1953) An author, writer, television and radio producer. You can read his article here every day except Sundays. Read all his columns in the archive.
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