Marleen is a busy bee behind the counter at the assisted living facility and she comes to sit for a while. She doesn't like to take pictures, but she likes to tell her story.
I was born in 1959. My second husband, that's my hero. I was divorced and had a daughter of nine. There was an ad in the paper, one of my friends had seen it. In the end it was me who met him and we started a relationship. He was a very sweet, gentle man. We started living together very soon. I was 27 at the time.
He first worked in a contracting company, then with farmers, then we started self-employment together. We both worked hard and didn't have much free time. Every year we went on vacation in Egypt for ten days. I have fond memories of that. One of the best moments of my life with him was the birth of our son.
He was away a lot, but when he was needed, he was there. For example, there was an annual Mass for our son, which is a feast where the parish celebrates the one-year-olds. The farmers where he lived and worked had bet that he wouldn't be there, that he wouldn't want to stop working. But he attended the feast and Mass!
He unfortunately got a brain tumor, for a year he was sick. Immediately after, I put my euthanasia papers in order. Both my son and my daughter wanted to sign. It's nice to see that they are both there for each other. I am now working here in the assisted living center, I need activity! But I still miss him every day.
Marleen Toebaert from Langemark-Poelkapelle
Read all stories from the expo: https://www.langemark-poelkapelle.be/en/this-is-me-and-this-is-my-hero