Herinneren is een vorm van ontmoeten…

I met Pieter in our fourth year of high school, when he joined our class. I remember being immediately struck by him — handsome, a year older than most of us, a touch defiant, playfully teasing, and above all, utterly enigmatic. I fell for him on the spot.

That summer, between our fourth and fifth year, we fell in love. It was my first real love. We spent a few unforgettable weeks: sneaking out at night, cycling with friends to the lake in the Haarlemmermeerse Bos, swimming under the stars.

Our relationship didn’t survive the return to everyday life, and I ended it before school started again. But the memory of that love has always held a special place in my heart.

Though we didn’t often speak, we stayed loosely connected over the years — playing our almost daily games of Wordfeud. Pieter, who had become Piet, called himself “Geckopiet” in the game. He lost nearly every match but never gave up.

One day, the screen showed: “Geckopiet has ended the game.”

When his brother called me later, I knew instantly what those words had meant.

He stayed true to his dreamer’s spirit — and maybe that made real life a harder match to win.

I am grateful that we had the chance to see him one last time during our class reunion in May, which he had travelled from Cairo to attend — and clearly enjoyed so very much.



Erna Rijsdijk

We met in Luxor, we worked together on Elephantine Island, in Zominthos, Crete, in Cairo and even Bonn. Piet was my best friend in Egypt. We laughed together, we talked for hours, we watched movies and we went for food and drink, two people, a group, with Piet there was always togetherness. He took me up, when I needed a place to stay, he provided films, ideas and an open ear. He was a Picasso on the archaeological drawing board and he never had problems to follow my around the corner ideas and thinking, he thought alike. I will see you again, my friend. And we will laugh again together. You will always be in my heart.

I met Piet in 2012 in the Acropole Hotel in Khartoum, a day or so before we and the team travelled to Sesebi for a month's work. How fortunate I was to have met Piet in this context - we were a very small tight-knit team and it felt like that made us great friends almost straight away. I quickly moved from being intimidated (all in my mind of course) to being in constant awe of him and his approach to his life and work. Never one to shy away from a jokey comment, he broke the ice on many occasions we met and taught me that it was ok to be myself (= usually a little bit silly) even when I didn't think it was ok to be. Rest in Power dear Piet, thank you for the memories ❤️ x