A man without a woman is like a forest without roundabouts

Herman must have been forty. But nobody really knew that. A big, quiet bachelor in whose life his mother was probably the only woman. At least she had brought him up so well that he took good care of his household and himself.

A calm, modest man

His only striking features were his enormous mustache and his quiet passion for pre-war two-stroke engines up to 250 cc. He visited motorcycle fairs and motorcycle museums. Participated in club evenings, hits and rides. He was never too bad to help hobby enthusiasts. But further? Furthermore, Herman was actually invisible with an almost virtual social life. The eternal man in the background. At hits and parties he listened from the second row. With a neat half-full glass in hand. He never left first. But not last. The comment “Herman, is it gone then?” Was part of every party where Herman had been.

Until that evening in Woudenberg

At an informally arranged club meeting. There was someone called Gemmeke. With growing annoyance, she looked at Herman, listening in as usual from the second row. Then something broke in her. She approached Herman, grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him out of his listening position like a harbor tug with a tanker. Started talking to Herman. Afterwards Herman started talking back and the other partygoers looked surprised at the phenomenon of a busy talking and emphatically gesturing Herman. They had never seen him like that. Little Gemmeke stood before him like a rock in the surf. A small curious crowd gathered around the couple. He heard Herman say: “But you don't want to say that I am disabled because of that? Then come along! Then I'll show you! "

The unlikely couple disappeared inside

The public remained civilized but most intrigued outside. After half an hour a glorious looking Herman came out with a radiant Gemmeke in his mighty wake. Herman's huge mustache had disappeared. With his long upper lip and melancholic look, he looked like Jacques Brel in large. He looked twenty years younger. He received pats on the back and compliments. When the emotions had calmed down, he retired to his familiar second row. Without a mustache, but with Gemmeke by his side. And damn it if it's not true. They have been inseparable for three years now. And Herman was recently seen in a men's fashion store. With his Gemmeke beaming in the background. A man is just what his sweet makes him.

A very happy ending

Fortunately, Gemmeke, who had come to the club night by coincidence, doesn't mind that her Lief is still crazy about old motorcycles. Certainly as long as they now clearly come in second place with Herman. And to make it almost completely fairytale-like: Gemmeke now also has her motorcycle license. A few female club members are already chuckling when it's time for a sidecar.