A small Smoon and a young John

One of my worst fears is receiving that one phone call with bad news while being far away. It doesn't matter where you are, it won't change the bad news, but it makes things more complicated.





While waiting for my food at a restaurant in Boston, I received that phone call I feared the most. At that moment it feels as if someone pulls the ground away beneath your feet. I felt completely powerless.





My dad fell ill while riding his bike and fell on the road. Other people saw it happening and performed CPR on him until the ambulance arrived. They managed to bring him back. He went through the eye of the needle.





Seeing him lying at the intensive care unit attached to, what seemed like a thousand tubes, bruised and drugged, felt like a nightmare that came true. Truth is that reality is filled with nightmares. They come and go. Waking up the next morning doesn't always mean that the big bad wolf has run off. He was still among us. My dad was still fighting for his life and all we could do was wait.





Life has it ups and downs and the only thing we can do is take it from the moment we are currently living in and keep on looking forward. Not knowing what will happen the next days was hard. Hard for all of us. My family, the band, the fans. All was uncertain.





A fan wrote to me, "The last thing you lose, is hope." And that sentence kept on going through my head. Thank you to whoever wrote that. It really helped me a lot.





My dad is a very strong man and that was what we held on to. His recovery is a miracle that has left us speechless. I believe that we all helped him by connecting through music, something he also lives for. He loves him some Chopin. So many people were thinking about him and all the positive energy that was sent his way was very powerful.





At this moment he is doing better. We are awaiting what and if surgery lies ahead. He will need a long time to recover, but thank the Energy out there that he is still alive. He proved to us that he is one tough cookie.





Thank you for helping Epica and I, by being so incredibly understanding and caring through this unknown journey. Canceling a tour was the second nightmare that came true in a short period of time, but we will make it up to you! We were all so looking forward to go to North America finally again and then this happened. On top of that Coen also couldn't join us on this tour, but we were bound to make this tour happen.





We will be back, all six of us, full force!





I want to thank my band mates, our management and crew for being the best buddies to work with. It is unbelievable how kind and understanding you all have been. I am grateful to have you. We are a good team that supports each other through the good and the bad. It kind of feels like we're married. ;)



