Ger (195) and Riny (1947) are born in the Netherlands in the province of Limburg, in particular in the South of Limburg. Since 1972 we have lived in the province Zeeland, in the country Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. Although we have lived longer in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen than in Limburg, we still kept our local dialect from Limburg. After Terneuzen and Philippine, since 1998 we have settled in the fishertown Breskens. Riny worked as a nurse for more than 40 years, and is glad that she is now in full retirement. Ger started his career as nurse and has continued his lifelong learning in education. Since 1995, he transformed his passion into this profession, namely as information manager he is juggling with numbers, databases, and management analyses. A highlight of the year are our summer holidays. In the period till 2000, we primarily travelled to the South of France. In more recent years, our destination has changed to Italy. After a lifelong learning career, in 2003 Ger has obtained his master degree Information Management at the University of Tilburg.
Son Bart (1976) lives together with his wife Keetie in Brighton-Hove (UK). Bart obtained his PhD in educational psychology at Maastricht University in 2010. At present, he works as lecturer at University of Surrey. Daughter Marjolein (1980) lives together with her partner Robert-Jan in Breda. Marjolein obtained a Master degree in Psychology at Maastricht University and currently works as educational specialist/academic developer at the NHTV in Breda. Furthermore, on a weekly basis we have the privilege to visit and nanny our two grand children. Travelling to Breda may be rather tiresome, but the joy to see our grand children smile, play and grow can not be described with any words.
Since 2004, Riny has nurtured her feelings for languages and has been following various Italian language courses. First in small groups with an Italian teacher, afterwards in a vocational adult learning setting in Belgium. In 2010, Ger rediscovered his passion for photography and has been taking pictures with his buddy, the digital camera Canon Eos 450D, in the beautiful surroundings of Breskens, various holidays and of course the grand children. He currently follows a vocational training digital photography in Belgium.
We have a small stable of animals, namely two so-called “Russian-Blue” cats (Romeo and Lana) and several chickens. As our house is situated in the country side of Breskens, we are enjoying the sun, clean air, wide and stunning panoramic views, impressive clouds, and last but not least our astonishing garden and orchard. The beaches in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen are clean, quiet and deserted (except for the main season). We live along the so-called Panorama cycling route. As a result, when sitting in the garden, we hear a range of European languages passing by in the summer, primarily Flemish, German and our local dialect.