Cross-continent love affairs, shot-putters turned hurdlers and free tap water in Belgium (at last): here is The Brussels Times' weekly round-up of Belgian positive news stories to brighten your weekend.
Today's positive pick
It seems distance does make the heart grow fonder, as 85-year-old Belgian Roger Herman and 79-year-old New Zealander Rosalind Walker's fairytale romance is stronger than ever, despite having lost contact and lived separate lives on opposite sides of the world for over 60 years.
It all began on 15 August 1962 when Roger, a 25-year-old naval engineer from Bruges, set sail on a trip to Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. On 16 March 1963, he arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, and decided to explore the country a bit. The line of souvenir shops was appealing, but he didn't stop until he got to the last one on the street.
There, the shopkeeper's 19-year-old daughter, Rosalind Walker, who Roger describes as a "very young, pretty girl", caught his eye. They got chatting and he invited Rosalind and her family on board his boat.
After sight-seeing in Auckland and an invitation to the Walker family house, the pair sailed to Tauranga and Rotorua, spending 24 hours there.
"There was just this chemistry between us," Rosalind told The Brussels Times. "Nothing physical was needed, it was just a touch or a look and being together. It was incredible. It's very difficult to explain how we felt."
Roger (25) and Rosalind (19) in Rotorua, New Zealand, in March 1963. Credit: Roger Herman and Rosalind Walker
Roger left the next day, and the pair started corresponding with letters until September of that year. Rosalind didn't hear from him again and they "just got on with [their] lives."
Roger met someone and was happily married for 37 years before his wife passed away in 2003. Rosalind, meanwhile, has two children and three grandsons. "Life went on for the pair of us on opposite sides of the world."
The final letter
Five years ago, however, on Roger's 80th birthday, he looked at the letters and photos from years gone by and wondered whether "that girl" was still alive. He had all her past addresses, but everything had changed in the intervening six decades and Rosalind was now living with her daughter in Christchurch.
Luckily, Roger remembered that Rosalind had a twin brother, Raymond, who was studying law when they met all those years ago. He found him online and wrote him a letter, explaining he had been in Auckland in 1963, and asked whether Rosalind was his sister.
Roger's letter took over two months to arrive. Raymond rang his sister once he eventually received the letter and casually asked if she knew of a Roger Herman.
"I went white in the face and my heart started pounding… I immediately knew who it was. Once I got off the phone and stopped shaking, I went to find the photo of us in Rotorua," she says. The pair exchanged email addresses through Raymond and "it just went from there," Rosalind says, welling up.
Roger confesses that even before receiving a reply to his letter, he had booked a two-month trip to New Zealand to try and track Rosalind down, giving it a last throw of the dice.
Roger and Rosalind in Christchurch, New Zealand (Left) and at the wedding of Roger's niece Vero earlier this year (Right). Credit: Roger Herman and Rosalind Walker
'The impossible dream'
The trip was postponed due to the pandemic, but the couple were finally reunited in February of this year, after over 60 years apart. "With just one look, it was all there. The love has been dormant: it's just been lying there silently and now it's coming alive," Rosalind explains.
"It was like those 60 years didn't exist. We picked up from yesterday. It's unexplainable – I call it 'the impossible dream'," Rosalind said, with a tear in her eye. Although jokingly she adds, "Roger only came looking for me because he ran out of all the Belgian girls!"
Roger describes himself as a "coward" for not replying back in 1963. But he insists that he kept every letter she ever wrote and that his love for her never died: "I wanted to go back and find this girl and explain that I still liked her and never forgot her. I wanted to take her to a nice restaurant and tell her why I never answered."
"Roger is always the gentleman... he'll take me out for dinner and then watch out…!" she laughs.
Rosalind now understands that he never replied because he didn't want to say goodbye. "Roger's love for the sea was his first passion and I didn't want to stand in the way of that. We both knew in our hearts it could never have been."
Happy ending?
But this year, 85-year-old Roger asked Rosalind to marry him – a big step after declaring he would never marry again. "He didn’t get down on one knee because he may never get up again!" They both giggle like schoolchildren.
They laugh and enjoy their limited time together as Rosalind, currently in Bruges, must go home at the end of July and will be unable to return to Belgium for another two years due to immigration issues. "It’s going to be very hard, but we’ll do it," her voice cracking as she holds him tightly.
Other stories from this week to make you smile:
1. Belgian shot putter Jolien Boumkwo competes in the 100 m hurdles
On Saturday, Jolien Boumkwo agreed to replace the hurdler who had to withdraw and finished 15th in the 100 metres hurdles at the European Athletics National Team Championships in Poland. Read more here.
2. Disgruntled Charleroi citizens launch 'most disgusting street' contest
A pensioner, fed up by dirty streets in his home city of Charleroi, has launched a "most disgusting street" competition to force authorities to clean up their act. Read more here.
3. Free tap water initiative trialled by Brussels restaurant
Locals and tourists have for years complained about the lack of free drinking water in Belgium, but a campaign by grassroots movement Free Tap Water in Belgium aims to change this. Read more here.
4. Summer in the City: Brussels launches range of urban summer festivities
Due to the success of Brussels' 'Winter Wonders' Christmas events, authorities have decided to launch a similar concept over the summer, including an urban garden, free concerts, sporting activities and more. Read more here.
