One of my favourite authors is Arnold Jansen op de Haar and the English translation of his acclaimed novel King of Tuzla contains a very beautiful portrait of a father which I would like to share with you. Very appropriate as Sunday is International Father’s Day.

‘No, Gijs never wanted a decoration. He wouldn’t talk about it. And yet he was head of the resistance. We just knew. S  ometimes I delivered letters for him to…’
       His father glanced at him and thought.
       ‘Arnhem, Ommen, Sneek, Assen… But that was only at the end of the war, you understand.’
       His eyes grew moist. He didn’t even notice the fact that Tijmen’s mother kept butting in. Hard of hearing on one side. Handsome face, with artistic, white hair. Bald on top of course just like Tijmen. On holidays in guesthouses this sometimes created quite a commotion: he was mistaken for the CEO of a large company.

You can read the full passage from this page.