How many people do not dream of a grand place to live in

Write about your dream home.

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Small kids, as soon as they received some wooden or plastic cubes, they start constructing houses or castles. Also on the beach, wherever one looks we can see children building sandcastles.

Lego bricks

I was no exception. I constructed whole towns with my collection of Lego, plastic building-block toys that rose to massive popularity in the mid-20th century. From early on I knew very well what I wanted to become; a priest or a musical star, and in what I wanted to live.

Like, oh so many, I had my dream house, with all the luxury inside as well as outside, with a lovely decorated garden and a swimming pool, in an area where the sun was shining a lot.

In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets, but which are nothing for me and my kids. The bricks were the summum or ultimate to create our own imaginable world. Constructing my real-life world was not as easy as the world we imagined as kid, and could construct with those magic strong coloured plastic bricks.

Real life was not at all so strong and soon I too came to understand lots of dreams can be broken very easily. In a certain way I may not complain, some dreams have become true. Though not become a world-renowned dancer; I managed to dance and choreograph for 45 years, earning my living with it and enjoyed having played in television series, films, theatrical pieces a.o. – always have had the opportunity to choose what to do – and do what I loved to do. That was always under my pseudonym or artist name.

Also for my writings, I got some works published under my real name as well as under several pseudonyms (depending on the sort of work). >As a youngster having been an acolyte, I resisted the false teachings of the Trinity and became a nontrinitarian Christian. After having become an elder in the church also become responsible for the Belgian Christadelphians. As such you could say I also have become a priest. = Those dreams accomplished. But working in the arts, is not exactly the place where you would be able to become rich.

The banks considering us non-solvable made it impossible to buy a house because nobody would give us a mortgage. As a result, most artists do rely on the rental market, putting a lot of money in bricks that never would become our own. When the moment was there I would be able to buy a little cottage in the South of France, there was the 2008 bank crisis or Great Recession from late 2007 into 2009. I lost all my savings for my ‘old age’ and had to start all over again, to construct some financial base. = Away dream house.

Having brought two banks before the Brussels and Amsterdam court, this did not bring my money back. So to adjust my retirement money I went back to work, doing now something totally different from before. (Working a few hours per month as a security agent.) At the same time, I keep doing voluntary work for my church and for the community I live in, offering Dutch language and integration courses for Ukrainians. Honestly, all my dreams are not broken yet.

I would appreciate it when my son Quinten with his Argentinian lady would be able to find a kangaroo house so that we could be close together (perhaps in Bergamo or somewhere in Spain) and we could take care of the kids when they are flying for work.

In my dreams, there is still a place for a beautiful house with a nice large garden somewhere in a warm country. Who knows …. One day, dreams may come true.