The other half...

Once upon a time, many moons ago, I met Natascha lying on a couch at the Gedempte Gracht in The Hague. She was 'new' to our circle of friends. She was attractive, but a bit strange and rather 'lively'. I decided she was probably a ship that would pass in the night and honestly thought she was a bit of a bimbo...

Over the years we kept in touch (more or less) through mutual friends and I understood she is actually doing rather well. She married a Frenchman, had three wonderful kids, built and sold a watch brand etc. I met her again for the first time in over 15 years yesterday and although she still looks as attractive as she did 25 or so years ago when we first met, she had clearly matured on the inside. Or maybe I just did not see it all those years ago. All of a sudden on the beach lay this wonderful, successful woman readying herself for a new phase of her life. The girl I thought was a 'bimbo' in 1986 is now by far the most successful of my friends. Not because (as I thought at first) she married money, but because she worked hard with her husband and built it all from the ground up. I have nothing but respect for her, raising three kids (of whom one is rather ill) at the same time.

I hope this turns in to a new friendship (since oddly enough we never really were friends...) and I hope to be visiting her a lot more often. I will respect her privacy by not posting pictures of her, but I will show you the outside of her wonderful 'casa'. She designed a lot of it herself and it is simply stunning. It really was like finding out how the other half lives.





Not the best pictures in the world, but you get an idea. I think her house symbolizes her. Beautiful, quaint, stylish and expensive. :) We will hang out again today or tomorrow before I go to the Keys. It has been a pleasure meeting her again.