Our new dad, old and new uncles took us, Jacqueline and Ben, for a walk along the river Rhine it was at its widest for a long time.
Melted snow from as far as Switzerland brought huge volumes of water down, an imposing sight.
In one of these barges lived my classmate Thijs Belgers and once one the way to school we decided to find out if he was up and about to join us on way to class.
Who’s going first on the gangplank?
Imaging the frolicking of four boys on that springy plank, it was only an invitation for trouble. Well, I never reached school that day; there I stood at the door, soaked and with a pounding heart, cold and smelly, in front of a snarling mother.
‘I’ve told you not to go that way, how many more times I have to tell you that?’