Mspikelet: “I know Rutger from the hockey club here in The Hague.” Rutger: “I was looking for someone for the TD committee. TD means Thé Dansant, or hockey party. Then I saw Maartje and asked her for that.”
Maartje: “We got along well. Rutger had quickly said something like 'you are the mother of my children'. But I don't know how serious that was, he's quite a quick talker. In any case, it took another year and a half before we got along.”
Rutger: “That was during corona, more than three years ago.”
Maartje: “I initially received reactions about the age difference. Like: 'What do you do with such an old guy?' Because Rutger is eighteen years older. I have doubted it myself. I thought: he'll probably die before me, so I'll be alone for a while afterwards. My parents also had to get used to it a bit. But now they see the love and they know that I am happy.”
Rutger: “Maartje soon indicated that she wanted children. That was an absolute condition. And I really wanted another child. I had experienced it before. That was a very fun and special time, so I wanted to do it again.”
Maartje: “Our daughter Guus is now eighteen months.”
Rutger: “And my daughter Olivia from a previous marriage is twenty. She tries to be with us one day a week.”
Chef kitchen
Maartje: “Rutger throws everything together in the washing machine, so I can't leave that to him. I'm head was.”
Rutger: “I am a kitchen chef.”
Maartje: “Rutger is a good cook, but I think he adds too much crème fraîche and salt to the food. He is now unlearning that. Recently, only 100 grams of cream are used instead of 200.”
Rutger: “Maartje cooks more according to recipes.”
Maartje: “With a meal box, for example, I simply follow the instructions. Rutger makes something completely different out of it.”
Rutger: “I cook more freehand.”
Maartje: “I am an HR advisor in a Delft hospital. We are faced with staff shortages and these are only likely to worsen. There is also a lot of absenteeism due to illness. During the pandemic there was applause for people in healthcare. That social appreciation is now crumbling again. So it is important that we continue to do our best to make work in this sector more attractive, for example through internal training and flexible working hours.”
Rutger: “I work as a DJ and presenter-entertainer at major sporting events such as Formula 1 in Zandvoort. That's a hobby that got out of hand. When I was eleven, I was already playing records at a party in Roosendaal, where I grew up. After that I worked for a long time as an employee at various companies. I performed on weekends. Now I am a full-time entrepreneur.”
Maartje: “Rutger is very positive and enthusiastic.”
Rutger: “We are in the world to make life more beautiful.”
Maartje: “But he makes bad jokes. When he makes it on stage, people laugh about it. Not here at home.”
Rutger: “People are often in a good mood at such an event, so they laugh a little faster.”
Maartje: “On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I go to the hospital. I work there from 7:45 am to 5:30 pm. I work from home on Friday and I am free on Wednesday.”
Rutger: “I am with Guuske every Monday and Tuesday. I often have to work from Thursday to Friday, usually until Sunday. So it's a bit of a puzzle every week. Maartje has a large calendar on which she works out the planning.”
Skating weekend
Maartje: “Neither of us are planners by nature, but we have to do it that way.”
Rutger: “We try to alternate.”
Maartje: “Sometimes Rutger is away for a few days, for example when he has to perform at a skating weekend in Heerenveen. Then I have Guus alone for the whole weekend.”
Rutger: “I will get up early again on Monday morning for Guus, even if I am still tired from the weekend.”
Maartje: “Sometimes I don't have enough time for myself.”
Rutger: “Luckily we have Maartje's fantastic parents, who babysit a lot. My own parents would also like to, but are unfortunately too advanced in age. They are especially supportive mentally.”
Maartje: “Last summer I went to Lowlands for four days. That was wonderful. Not being a mother for a while.”
Rutger: “It is a matter of looking for a balance with each other. We are both positives, but we also know that life is not one big Fantastico show. We have to work hard for it and not everything goes perfectly. The glass is always three-quarters full.”
Maartje: “For Guus, we hope that she has the enthusiasm and perseverance of Rutger…”
Rutger: “And Maartje's skills.”
Maartje: “Rutger's attitude is: 'No you have, yes you can have.' Recently at a counter they said it would take two weeks. Then Rutger managed to arrange for us to go straight away. He's handy, in a respectful way. And charming. Sometimes he wants to go out for an evening together, but I see all kinds of objections. Then he wants to discuss them one by one until they all drop out.”
Rutger: “And what is the result? A nice evening!”
#39We #positivos #life #Fantastico #show39