It’s taken me a really long time to be able to publish something about the MH tragedy. This post has sat in my drafts for literally almost 10 years.

There has been plenty of news coverage about the event and an overview here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17

What is not as easy to see in those factual reports is the massive impact this event had on so many people personally.

Even a decade later, I think of or hear about MH17 fairly regularly. As a Dutch Australian, both of my countries were involved in this tragic event, as well as the aftermath and investigation. 

I have to say, I still cannot process the details. My main thoughts are with the individuals who were on board, and their friends and family.

Antoine van Veldhuizen was on that flight with his wife (Simone), two young children (Quint and Pijke) and mother in law.

I was connected to him on Facebook and this is the last photo he shared before the flight took off. I can’t remember now if I saw it on his profile or in the media, as his profile is now deleted and I’ve written this post much later. I want to (re)share it as it does remind me of the wonderful person he was, and the great bond he had with his beautiful family.

The previous year (2013), I’d worked closely for 6 months with Antoine at Expatica, and we were in contact several times a week. He truly was an inspiration and made an impact in so many ways.

In July 2014, I was working as editor at TheHagueOnline, and the owner rang me with the news. We both knew Antoine well, as did many of the expat community in NL, and it was a complete shock. 

I watched the information unfold online in disbelief. I had to write a news item which I just went back and found:

I can see now that I also focussed on the emotions at the time. I was in a state of shock for days, and it’s affected me and so many others for years afterwards. 

What added even more to this shock was that in 2007, when I’d flown from Amsterdam to Brisbane to relocate there with my (now ex) husband and baby was on flight MH17.

I hesitated to post about this for so many years. I just didn’t know what I wanted to say, and how. 

However I was touched at the time by a post written by Colleen, who know Antoine and his family well:

https://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2014/07/18/a-tribute-to-antoine-van-veldhuizen-lost-on-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh17/

As we approach the 10th anniversary, I also wish to share my memories of Antoine. He has not been forgotten.

Antoine on LinkedIn

Either when applying for the job back in 2013 or when working with him on the social media strategy, I recently found that I’d kept a screenshot of his LinkedIn profile:

I do remember I had been enthusiastically sharing my views on LinkedIn with Antoine after working together for a while, and wrote him a personal recommendation:

He also wrote me a lovely recommendation as well, which I’m sad was lost when his profile was later deleted.

Last lunch…and the future

The last time I spent some time with Antoine was in mid 2013, when we had lunch together. I was finishing up the project I did with Expatica and told him that in Australia, it was often a tradition to “take clients to lunch”.  He’d been an inspiration to me as a client/manager and I wanted to thank him.

I felt a little strange asking the co-owner of a large organisation if he’d like to wrap up the project with sushi. However, in his gracious manner, he agreed, and looking back now I’m so very grateful I overcame my awkwardness.

That hour or so together is now even more precious. He talked about his inspiration to start the company, and what he had learned. He talked about his family, whom he loved immensely. We both had young children so discussed the challenges – but also many joys – of parenting.  

What I remember most is him telling me that though I did well as the social media manager, he could tell that my future may lie in teaching. Most of my role at Expatica was spent on my own, behind my computer, or in phone calls/emails with him and Expatica staff/clients.

However I’d also been asked by him to give a live social media workshop for the Expatica staff, and had been quite nervous but really enjoyed it. I’d given some workshops in Australia as well but not yet found my way to do so in the Netherlands, so this was one of the first in NL.

This insight about me having potential as a teacher was given to me kindly and wisely. It stayed with me and returns to me often. Not long afterwards, I ended up being offered a role to teach social media at The Hague University of Applied Sciences – where I still work a decade later as a lecturer. He was right, it was my future.

Expatica I am not a Tourist Fair

I last saw Antoine briefly a few months after that lunch at the 2013 I Am Not A Tourist Fair in Amsterdam. I was asked to present the blog competition.

The year later, in 2014, he was very much missed. However he was still present at the Fair on this banner and will also continue to be present in all of our collective memories.

Thank you Antoine for your contribution to mine and so many other lives. Your memory lives on. 

Here in The Netherlands there is a memorial near Schiphol. I’d like to go and see it one day.

Renée