Last Friday was a sad day, it was the funeral of my godfather, Arie De Wit, who died in his sleep aged 90. He lived a long and mainly very happy life, he had a great family, good friends and happy marriage to my godmother.
They became my godparents as they were neighbours and became good friends with my parents.
The reason I’m writing this, is because Arie’s life started off with a less than happy event and how he dealt with that is an inspiration. It highlights that really life now has nothing to really worry us.
He was a son of Dutch immigrants in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. He grew up in an expat environment, he loved the sea and lived a somewhat idyllic life, he became a strong swimmer, which he would not realise how valuable that was until the invasion of Indonesia by the Japanese.
His family were captured and he instinctively decided to escape and swam out in to the sea and was eventually rescued by an allied submarine, he was in his late teens. He ended up in San Francisco and travelled his way across America and eventually made his way to Holland. His father and brother were killed by the Japanese and his mother and sister suffered in captivity.
He joined the Royal Dutch Navy and ended up meeting and marrying my godmother, They subsequently moved to London where she was from. They were poor and he was a bus driver, she was a maid and they just about made ends meet.
However, despite this and knowing that he was a clever man he didn’t accept his lot and worked hard to eventually get a job working for Dutch electronics giant Philips.
He lived a very active life, always cycling, walking, travelling, gardening, whatever, always happy, he never moaned, he never swore, he always had time for me and his family. Later in life it was a great pleasure for me that he got to meet my wife and spend time with my children, who view him with the same fondness as me.
My godmother became ill in her later life and eventually bed ridden, where Arie for many years looked after her and cared for her, despite having suffered a heart attack, he soldiered on, without a single moan and retained his happy outlook.
The last three years of his life, after the sad departure of my godmother, Arie carried on going, travelling, going out about, despite having lost much of his eyesight and starting to get a bit frail.
The lesson for all of us is, none of us know what will be thrown our way in terms of health, wealth and family. He was wasn’t wealthy, but he was blessed with the right attitude to life, determined, kind, thoughtful to others, loving and a true gentle man. He never gave up and he kept going with the same determination and happiness.
He would have been able to sit in his chair at the end of his life and say to himself he had been a success, a winner and had lived a long and happy life with great family & friends. That’s all that matters.
A sad loss, but I will use the example of his determination to drive myself forward towards my goals.
Rest in peace Uncle Arie, we will miss you.
Philip Dodson 