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Unlucky symmetry
Mar. 27th, 2013 11:25 pmLast weekend I was about to go to sleep, but I was just reading my email first. In my inbox I found a mail from "my professor", Kees (C.H.A.) Koster. He was my boss for several years at the university in my pre-previous job, and earlier when I just came to university he taught me the principles of programming by top-down refinement (and after that, by bottom-up abstraction). When I had my "skiing accident" when I was a student, he visited me in hospital and brought me a book as present. He was, I'm sure, many people's favourite professor. Later, in my first job, one of his daughters was my colleague for several years.
Unfortunately, the mail was an announcement that he had been in a motorcycle accident. He had taken up that hobby again in recent years. He had died in hospital.
Last tuesday was his funeral. I saw many of his students, and former colleagues and other people from university. There were no less than three choirs in the service, since he was a member of a Byzantine Choir as well. The church was quite full and it reminded me of his lectures, how you sometimes had trouble finding a free spot.
And there was his French friend and colleague, Jean. He had come from Lyon for this funeral. And exactly three years earlier, I was in Montrond (which isn't very far from Lyon) for another one.
I didn't know him as a particularly religious person. It is probably just that one gets sucked into tradition, on these occasions. The same was true for Isabelle as well, she wasn't religious at all, and neither are her parents, but still there was a church service.
Unfortunately, the mail was an announcement that he had been in a motorcycle accident. He had taken up that hobby again in recent years. He had died in hospital.
Last tuesday was his funeral. I saw many of his students, and former colleagues and other people from university. There were no less than three choirs in the service, since he was a member of a Byzantine Choir as well. The church was quite full and it reminded me of his lectures, how you sometimes had trouble finding a free spot.
And there was his French friend and colleague, Jean. He had come from Lyon for this funeral. And exactly three years earlier, I was in Montrond (which isn't very far from Lyon) for another one.
I didn't know him as a particularly religious person. It is probably just that one gets sucked into tradition, on these occasions. The same was true for Isabelle as well, she wasn't religious at all, and neither are her parents, but still there was a church service.
