Laughter echoed from the dining room. The guests had formed a special bond over the week, and this kind of cheerful outburst had become more frequent in recent days.

"They'll miss each other even more after this morning," Lisa said, working with Margreet in the bathroom. "Rosanne and Angelique's honeymoon will soon be over, and Cees and Sita are going home too. With that, the others will lose a lot of cheer."

"Yes," Margreet said, laughing, "those two couples are really full of humor huh. The others didn't have it so much at first, but they've been infected by them, so maybe they'll continue in that cheerful course! I think it's nice for Samuel and Rebecca that they had some distraction from all the merriment. In between, there will be plenty of pain coming up."

"You got that right, Margreet," said Rebecca, who had just come upstairs with her husband and heard the last words. "We will miss those people, they really helped us not to go down with everything that comes loose. It's good that the grief is coming loose, but it's intense."

Margreet, caught off guard as she felt, had got a big blush on her cheeks.

"You don't have to be ashamed, dear girl, you haven't said anything wrong. You just felt it right," Samuel reassured her. "I'm glad we can stay an extra week. It's nice to be here. Your warmth, your lively way of life does us good. And how Annerieke has helped us on our way has been very important. And now that we are staying here a little longer, we run less risk of getting caught up in the merry-go-round of life at home and not taking time for the process."

"That will save quite a bit, yes, but on the other hand... If you were to take no more time for the process, the process itself will require attention. You have become so conscious of it that it will not stop. At the most it would slow down a bit because of the bustle around you," Margreet thought. "I can see that in myself as well, I have not really started consciously with my process, but I rolled in it, and every now and then I am touched by something. And usually I then quickly remember what is happening, what I am in the middle of, that it is just another part of the process. And then I immediately know again how I can deal with it."

"Hmm that sounds relaxed. I had rather expected that you would say 'how I have to deal with it'. But the moment you are triggered, you basically have a choice. To meander through it by focusing on your work or whatever, or to feel it consciously. I think that does make a difference to the pace and depth of your process. But at least the way you bring it, there's no right or wrong in it." Rebecca looked at her with relief.

"There isn't, in fact there isn't in anything except in our emotional wounds. I do puzzle over that sometimes, because some things feel right, and some things feel wrong. But even then it's not about that abstract right-wrong story, it's about what is right or wrong for you, what is your truth or feeling, and what is not. What feels right to me, or feels like truth, doesn't have to be so to you, because you are different and your life is different. Take Lisa for example, for her playing the violin is good, it feels good for her, and it feels good for me to hear her play. But it's not good for me to play the violin myself, I'm more into handicrafts, especially embroidering tapestries, I've just discovered. Something completely different. They are only hobbies, but deep down it is about what really suits us. And so it is actually with everything in us, everything that belongs to you, is your truth, is good for you. Do you understand what I mean?" asked Margreet just to be sure.

"Yes... yes, I get it, but it will take some time to be able to apply it like that, to think like that. Our world is rigid with judgments, with determining whether something is right or wrong. And we've grown up with that. But I'll certainly keep it in mind."

"I think it's smart, to write it in the back of your diary, as a general thing we learned here," Samuel thought, and to Margreet and Lisa: "Rebecca keeps a diary, of what we go through, just in short, no novel, more with keywords."

Rebecca supplemented: "And especially feelings, I mention how we feel. And how it went, how we got through it. It is a process book in the form of a diary. And indeed, Samuel, I will write that story about right and wrong in there too. Useful to read back again."

Margreet nodded: "Certainly for the beginning it is useful, to become more aware. But even without such an aid it will become more and more self-evident. I think that our soul knows perfectly well how it is put together, but through all the dredging up of wounds and beliefs we have lost it. Through your process it comes back again, just naturally, beautiful huh?"

"Certainly beautiful, but young ladies, we won't keep you any longer, and neither will we ourselves," Rebecca said with a laugh. "We're going to take a day off, go for a walk, no idea where, we'll just take the map, and my diary, and we'll see where we end up. Just need to pack our backpacks." Rebecca and Samuel turned around towards their room.

"Have a nice walk!" Margreet called after them.

"Yes, enjoy!" Lisa followed her lead.

"Thank you!" shouted Rebecca and Samuel back.

"They have lovely weather for it, it's so sunny today, and not really cold." Margreet and Lisa picked up their work again, finishing it quickly, as they expected the other guests upstairs any minute as well. And then they wanted to be done.

Downstairs, they briefly sought contact with the two couples who would be leaving today. They asked them what time they thought they were going.

Sita laughed, "What do you think? As late as possible! It's too nice to be here!"

The others laughed, agreeing with her completely.

"We are allowed to stay until 10 o'clock, so we will! So are you guys here to say goodbye, too?" asked Angelique.

"We always go for coffee here around 10, so we'll see you guys later. Just enjoy each other for a little while longer!"

"We will!" roared the bass of Cees.

To chapter 158. Accepting help, quite difficult

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