My father was born in Roeselaere on 8 oktober 1933 as the son of Maria Muylle and Maurice Hoornaert, who was a skilled carpenter, crafting everything from coffins to staircases out of wood. His mother Maria got hit by a car in Roeselare when crossing the road and died on 29th December 1960 (his Sailor's book indicates he was crossing the Golf of Mexico that time aboard the S.S. Louis Sheid). His only sister Magaretha died following a cerebral hemorrhage on 13th April 2004.

My father started his career as a sailor 10 years after W.O. II in 1955 at the age of 22. Slowly he climbed up to the rank of "Chef Cuisinier". He stopped sailing in 1969 when he met my mother. Some sections of interest out of his "Sailor's book" below:

My father was born in Roeselare on 8th October 1933 and he quietly passed away in rest home "De Notelaar" in Beveren (near Sint Niklaas in Antwerp province at the South-West side of the Schelde river) on Friday 8th August 2008 during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games (see my blog-entry "8-8-8"). Upon my return to Belgium - after being cremated under instruction of my brother Dieter Hoornaert - the funeral ceremony was held on Friday 26th September 2008 at 14:30 at the "Blauwe Poort" Stationstraat 32 Beveren.

"The day after" all Atos Origin staff working or volunteering for the Olympics was summoned to the Olympic Park for a group picture in front of the Bird's nest. That turned out to be no small feat, because we are talking about 400 heads to be squeezed within a limited angle. With no hats, sun glasses or IDs allowed, and the Sun buring mercilessly, it felt more like a public execution. Moreover the professional photographer must have seen some artistic material in us, as he let us cheer, do mexican waves, close ups, etc ...

Thanks to an Accreditation Upgrade Card, I could quickly follow the handball semi-finals (Poland was playing against Russia) in the National Indoor Stadium, where Gymnastics had also been staged. In the afternoon I took a long nap at the very spot where I was reflecting on what was coming at me a couple of days before the Games started. Young couples were flying the small kites courtesy of GE and generally having a great time.

My most magical Olympic day of all - so hard to capture in words or pictures - basically broken up in 3 phases: (1) Marathon in the Morning, (2) Olympic Park in the Afternoon and (3) Closing Ceremony in the Evening (kept for next blog-entry).