Whitney 002

The young woman looked at him and said in English that she did not speak Dutch.

"Ah, no problem. Most people in Amsterdam speak English as well. I was just wondering if you had lost your way".

"It's worse than that. I had an appointment for a modelling job but it looks as if there has been some sort of misunderstanding about the name of the street. Amstel something. This house has the right number but it does not look as if there is a photography studio".

"Ah, it may be either Amstel or Amsteldijk. This is Amstel Quay. My Gran lived at this address".

"So you are on a visit to Memory Lane. May I ask, is it far from here to Amsteldijk?".

"Too far to walk on a hot summer day like this, I'm afraid. But there is a tram stop two blocks from here. Line 12 will bring you near Amsteldijk. I can show you the direction if you like".

"I called them and they said that they can pick me up but not right away. It may take them a couple of hours. They have rescheduled me for dinner time. These things happen. The only pity is that two hours is too short to head for the center to do a bit of sightseeing. It would be nice to see and hear a bit about the history of Amsterdam".

"Well, there is more to Amsterdam than the overcrowded center. I can tell you about the history of this quarter and all the changes over the past sixty years if you are interested. Call it oral history".

"That sounds better than killing two hours on my own in this part of the city. But only if you are not in a hurry".

"Not at all. This is the first of seven addresses I had in mind for my walk down Memory Lane. It has a chronology".

"And what happened at this address?"

"Ah, my Gran lived here. She was very inspirational to me. As a child, I thought she was a magician. You are standing right in front of her apartment. The bay window was the sitting room and the window to the right was the dining room. I often stayed with my Gran. The couch in the sitting room was my bed".

"A magician, really? Tell me all about it. I love magic. What did she do? And did she teach you any of her magic?"

"Yes, but in an unintentional way. She had mood swings. She could be open, social, and then all of a sudden she would close herself up. We had a morning ritual when I was six. I was called to her bedroom and she withdrew herself behind a big screen. After a few minutes she appeared in an outfit for the day and she wanted my opinion. If I did not like the outfit she asked me to describe why. There was never any discussion. She disappeared behind the screen to change outfits several times until I said that an outfit suited her. You could say she was my first female role model. This was a great help to me later in life. I understood the dilemma of my girlfriends. But the real magic was in her glasses. She had three pairs, one for long distance and two for reading. Mind you, I knew nothing about glasses except that they were expensive and that children were not allowed to touch them. But my Gran kept switching glasses and this made me curious. One day I grabbed my courage together and asked her why she had all those different glasses. She did not give an explanation but she handed me a rimless pair and said, put these on carefully. She made me describe what I saw in the distance and nearby. Everything in the distance seemed a tiny bit smaller and further away but there was no difference when I looked at my hands. She nodded and I handed her the glasses. Then she took one of her other glasses. Same procedure. I was flabbergasted by the effect and described it to her. My hands looked enlarged and much nearer. But when I looked in the distance everything was in a blur. She nodded again and I handed her the glasses. We never talked about it afterwards. But during the night I kept thinking about what had happened. My Gran was able to draw the world towards her if she was in the mood for it. And she was also able to push the world away from her if she wanted that. And my conclusion was that my Gran was a magician and that her glasses helped her to create magic. It all made sense to me. It explained her mood swings. I decided to keep the secret to myself. But from that day there was a difference. I started observing other women in glasses walking the streets and asked myself if they were magicians just like my Gran. By the way, big compliment for your own choice of glasses. They suit your face in a subtle way. My Gran had a similar pair but it was smaller".

"Thank you. I have three pairs myself but they all have the same prescription. Minus two. It's nice to have a choice, just like with outfits. Fascinating story. Do you still look at women in glasses?"

"Yes, I do. And the nice thing is that I have a collection of magic glasses myself. I'm an inventor of sorts but it's hard to explain how the magic functions. But it works".

"A pity you don't have your magic glasses with you".

"Well, some of the magic glasses are in my little rucksack. I can show them to you if you wish".

"Please do. Can they do any magic to me?"

"Absolutely. But allow me to explain to you first how it works".