go back to Amsterdam

I had the birth date wrong, my aunt would have turned 100 in October. This past weekend my cousin phoned to let me know my aunt was dying, she’d been bed-ridden and refusing to eat for the last 10 days. I was able to speak to her by telephone. Even though she was no longer responding I have to believe she heard me. On Saturday the 10th she passed away at age 99 1/2. I was not able to fly to Amsterdam for the funeral, fares being astronomical. The funeral was on the 16th and the earliest I could have arrived was Sunday, for any reasonable price. My cousin had offered to pay for my ticket out of her mother’s estate. I just wasn’t wiling to have her spend over $3700 for an immediate flight. I’ll be going to visit my cousin later this year and she will finally be able to come visit me but this wasn’t the story I wanted to tell.

My father’s last surviving sister turns 95 this October. I really want to be there for her birthday celebration. I hope I can wait that long, I know she’s mostly forgotten her English but I speak enough Dutch to carry on a decent conversation and my cousin will be there to interpret if we have trouble communicating. I just need a few more frequent flyer miles to get there without spending money on airfare. She’s the only one who ever came to visit me in Oregon, even though she was in her 70’s and 80’s at the time.