When I was 22 years old, just got my college degree, I made a decision to take a new look In Europe for employment.

I had two job offers with all emoluments for Blue Cross health care plan, in time a pension fund, nice starting salary, work in the MIC, got my high security clearance ...

Basically, I determined it was not worth the downside of high risks: angst, gun violence, war policy, health care once you lost your job or in case of becoming handicapped. At the age of sixteen I earned money mowing lawns in a more affluent suburb in St. Louis County. An elderly couple I got to know real well. The husband had been a ranger up North and had done quite well. He served the best meat I have ever eaten. Both were in the seventies and had painstaking health issues. I cost them a small fortune and would bring them in some financial peril. A lifelong success story, wealth and a beautiful home ... a chance this would just evaporate. I was asked to drive them to the Mayo clinic in Minneapolis by car (big Cadillac) and drive back home by myself. This was certainly another reminder that the American Dream is an illusion ... reserved for a small group where luck plays a role.

In just a few years I was witness when two Dutch immigrant families had to return to the Netherlands due to misfortune: a husband killed in a car accident, father of two young children, and a highly professional chemical engineer lost his residence permit when a teenage son was arrested for shoplifting with some friends.

In the Netherlands I had been uncertain whether I made the smart decision for a long time. For the past twenty years I have felt quite comfortable and have been quite happy. I have been in excellent health over all the years, really never been sick even for a single day ... until end of March this year. Now living longer than I would have if I had stayed in the US. Big smile! :)

Global Warming - distance between America and Europe is steadily increasing.