I know for many here, May the 4th is a day of joy, to celebrate all things Star Wars. It's a weird week here in The Netherlands.
27 April - King's Day, to celebrate the King's Birthday.
4 May - Memorial Day, to commemorate everyone who died during the Second World War and all wars after.
5 May - Celebrate our freedom, so that we never forget to be grateful for living in peace now.
All these days are days where we come together. To celebrate and to mourn. But this year we can't. Why do I place this in the thread 'the good news is', because I see how creative we are as a nation. Yes, we do not have any festivals or flea markets like we normally on 27 April and 5 May, but there were and are so many initiatives to make this work while we are all at home.
On 27 April, at noon the King speeched, there was an at home concert by one of our largest orchestras with our national anthem. The queen and her daughters opened the online flea market on our Ebay. There were concerts all over youtube. And we could still buy the special snacks we eat normally. And wear our national color orange
Today, our memorial day was supposed to be special, as it is 75 years after the end of the Second World War for the Netherlands, all events are cancelled. But maybe it was now even more special and more memorable because we are at this moment chosing to stay 'imprisoned' for our health and our freedom in the future. The only memorial ceremony we have now is on an empty Dam Square in Amsterdam city center with only the King, Queen, Prime Minister and the mayor of Amsterdam. Normally there are thousands of people present to watch. The empty square made the King's Speech more moving.
But also here, we can see the creativity in people and that there are ways to be together without being together. At two minutes to 8 o'clock, before the two minutes of silence, there is a trumpet player who plays the Last Post (our version of it), this year, all trumpet players in the land were requested to play along, and it was very moving.
Somehow being apart, brings us together as well, and I think that's a beautiful thing.
Let's see what happens tomorrow, the good news there is: I can go to bed at a normal time! I live near the city center and on 5 May there are festivals about half a mile away from my home, keeping me awake till midnight or later. But this year, I can go to sleep whenever I want!