John has been happily in love with his wife Mariette Van Schie for over 39 years. In 1983 he fell in love with her during his men’s holiday to Lloret de Mar in Spain. He arrived on the Spanish coast in his ‘fire red BMW’ and prepared himself for unforgettable evenings at the disco. The wild evenings soon gave way to romance. “In the weekend of the second week I met my wife at the disco.” After he asked her to join the dance, John also appeared to have impressed Mariette. “She never left. It kind of comes down to that.”
–
Whether this remained with a holiday romance, John wasn’t sure. “I went home earlier, because she stayed another week after me. So I was like: I’ll never see her again, because she’s going to be the beast for another week.” For that reason, he decided to take matters into his own hands, but instead of asking her out directly, take a different tack. “The summer hit of that year was ‘Dolce Vita’ by Ryan Paris. (…) I wanted to buy it there, but it was not available at the time. She would take it for me, because it was not yet for sale in the Netherlands. was a bit of a trick where I thought maybe she’ll do that anyway and then I’ll see her anyway.” And that happened, because a week after her holiday Mariette from Haarlem came to Amsterdam by train. “Then she had that record with her and after that we went to live together in Amsterdam.”
John is sure that it is true love: “She has been through so much with me and we have experienced so many beautiful things, but also bad and sad things. That’s why I can’t imagine that we would ever break up.”
John and his wife have three sons and a daughter together. Their daughter was born lifeless on April 11, 1991 after nine months of pregnancy.
–
