Last night I heard I had lost a dear friend.

In a crazy action of joy cause Wales beat the Belgian team I rang some old friends in the midst of the coal valleys in Wales. My joy turned into sadness when I found out that Terry Gough had passed away some two years ago. It shows when you take real friendship for granted and let distance cloud the contact, things might be lost sooner than you expect.

Terry was one of the purest people I have ever met. He and his wife Betty made me fall in love with their country Wales and the people. The kindness, the love and the respect they gave me made me wanna live in Wales. Whenever I entered the country on a vacation I felt like coming home. I always told Henk, my brother, that if I became rich enough I would buy myself a house in Wales.

Finding out you let time slip and without knowing one of your dearest friends passed away had quite an impact. As always my feelings find their way to the paper I use to catch my thoughts. This is for Terry:

In memory of Terry

Lang walks down the valleys

carved in foot prints

rather than tire tracks

unveiled the beauty of a country.

The kindest words

in heavy Welsh accent

stole my heart

showing the soul of

the warmest of people.

Memories from

the deepest of coal mines

to the highest

of sheep covered mountains

still linger in my head.

Laughter always outshone,

hiding the struggle of life

the few that was given

so easily given away

by the kindest of hearts

I ever met.

Some pictures of my beloved Wales