Cor is 90 years old & this is his 128th time leading a version of this tour as usuallly he does seven a year including groups of school childen. No two itineraries are the same. He has had as many as 52 people on a tour making me very happy to be part of a small group. He had his left knee replaced last summer, & six weeks ago he broke his right leg. He can barely walk; when he does, he uses a cane. He has a scooter he rides in the hotels & to get out to the bus & into restaurants. I have already said I came on this trip to spend time with Cor. The longer the trip progresses, the happier I am with that choice. We are re-living history from one who lived it. As we ride along, he shares stories from that time & ones containing wisdom that can only be learned from a long life well lived. Tonight Dana, Lolle & I sat with him at dinner & he passed a great little bit of that wisdom to us.
The pope wanted to be able to explain the difference in heaven & hell to people so he contacts Saint Peter who takes him to the gates of heaven & hell. Before St. Peter opens the door to hell, the pope is surprised not to hear screams & smell sulfar. They go in & he again is surprised not to see flames. Instead he sees people sitting opposite each other at tables filled with all kinds of delicious food, but the people look depressed. Then the pope notices that the people have stiff arrms so they cannot reach the food with their hands to put it into their mouths. He understands that instead of jumping into flames & having it all be over, this would go on forever & that is truly hell.
Then they go to heaven & when Peter opens the door, the pope again, like in hell, sees people are sitting across from one another at tables heaped with delicious food. The people also have stiff arms, but they are smiling. He tells Peter he does not understand, & Peter tellls him to take another look. This time the pope sees that the stiff-armed people are feediing the people across from them. The pope realizes that the difference in heaven & hell is that even on earth people need to help others. If you reach out to your neighbor, your brother, you are in heaven. If you fail to reach out to your neighbor, your brother, you live in hell on earth.
Lolle, Dana & me with Joop
Joop, Cor's son, is very dear. He has been accompanying his father on these tours for some time now. He drives the bus & handles all business transactions. It is a joy to see how devoted he is to his father. He has recorded 40 hours of his father telling his stories & plans to continue with the tours after his father retires in Sept.
