“I never thought I would find love again. We ran into each other at a high school reunion. We hadn’t seen each other in 30 years but it was love at first sight. On our first date we went to the park to walk our dogs. 6 months later we were watching this terrible Adam Sandler comedy when he all of a sudden asked me: ’‘Do you want to be my wife?” That was 6 years ago and we are still happily married. “

“She has been pretty excited about this wedding when we explained her that after church there will be dancing involved.”

“I used to be a soccer referee. One time during a match one of the players broke his leg. When the Red Cross arrived with their ambulance I’d already taped his broken leg. The ambulance staff was impressed and asked if I wanted to become a volunteer. That was about 60 years ago. I have been collecting for them ever since. Last month they told me that I have raised over a million euro’s. Next year they celebrate their 150th anniversary and I’l turn 94. I really hope I’ll still be around to celebrate.”

I met Job two days ago after I came back from a meeting at The Hague Central Station. I had seen him before but I never had the chance to approach him. This time my train was 20 minutes late so it was the perfect opportunity to talk to him. I had a great conversation with him. Such a beautiful person. If you are ever at The Hague Central there is a big chance you will see him.

“I was seventeen when the world was at my feet. I was very talented drummer and I got accepted into the conservatory of Amsterdam. Everyone wanted to collaborate with me. I was young and curious so when a friend of mine was using cocaine and heroin, I also wanted to try it. He allowed me only to use cocaine. Later on I tried heroin anyways, something I should have never done. The combination heroin and music was insane. Whenever I was high I would listen to music and everything fell right into place. I was getting more successful and I was offered a lot of gigs but with the drugs it was hard to keep up. I would use between sets which caused me to be late and unprofessional. ’‘Heroin” and “addict” were words I didn’t identify with. It took a long time before I realized that those words were what I had become. After one year of using I realized I had made a terrible mistake. I have spent 20 years of my life trying to quit. Getting clean is possible but in order to give up drugs you have to find that little tiny flame inside of you, you have to nourish it until the flame gets bigger and bigger. The urge to make good music again was my little flame. It has been a long road but now I get to play with the best jazz musicians of The Netherlands. I have gotten a second chance and i’m determined to make it work. “

“I promised myself to never look up my daughter while I was still under the influence of drugs. I knew I couldn’t be the mother she deserved so I preferred to be absent from her life. I didn’t want to hurt her. Right after I got clean I met up with her. We sat down for a few hours and I told her my entire story. I wanted her to know everything so we had the opportunity to start all over. It was emotional but she opened herself up to me. She listened and showed a lot of empathy. She is a wonderful person and two years ago we both got this tattoo. It’s the date of that day when, after 16 years, we saw each other again..” (5/5)