Taiwan... a paradise on earth.

We just slipped out for some time. Away from the bad weather in Belgium. Looking for some sun in the Far East. Destination: TAIWAN, where I lived and enjoyed for 20 years. Which I see as my second homeland, and now it’s back beneath my feet. The sun is still shining as 10 years ago when I left to return to my land of birth Belgium. At 6 in the morning it’s already light and around 18 PM darkness drops and it becomes completely dark very fast. But for once, I won’t continue about this. On the contrary, I would like you to enjoy of what my colleague Ludo Geerts of www.komkom.be wrote down about THE LOST SON, in his very own unique and famous style. It’s good that each and everyone of you, who read me, can see the kind of life THE LOST SON, your servant, leaves behind. It’s a text, which we will let you read completely, written by the master in his profession and with his golden pen. I know you will enjoy being remembered about all of this. Continue reading yourself...

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Article of www.komkom.be, date 28/10/2013, author Ludo Geerts

78 years young (?) is a nice age to quit...
He does it in all honour with 2 national victories in 2013...
In February 2014, all will be sold.  Via the box of light of the net...
A life in a lot of acts...
Take very good care of yourself!

Michel Van lint (Zoutleeuw) will shortly close his scrapbook of a life of pigeon sport!

The news is hot of the press. Very fresh we could say... Michel Van Lint from Zoutleeuw is going to quit. Michel stops racing the pigeons. 78 years young... It has been enough. With two extra national victories (Argenton and Nevers) Michel Van Lint will soon leave the ring. Exit pigeon sport. In February, all racers and all youngsters that raced, will be sold on the internet;
Van Lint ants rest and retirement. Together with his wife (Yu-Chin) and his daughter Linda,  Van Lint has chosen for a quiet old day. In Zoutleeuw. Home... The banker he once was, never afraid to make radical decisions. Michel Van Lint was over 40 when he suddenly quit his neat job at the bank. Van Lint went to Taiwan. To live among pigeons and Chinese.

He stayed there for 20 years. But his heart beat always stayed in Brabant, the “Hageland” and the crispy fried potatoes with a dollop of mayonnaise... His whole life, Michel Van Lint has been a bit of a troubadour. And he enjoyed life. For many years, he took care of the financial policy and the management of the Reisduif. So far that the business were going very well after some time. Once Van Lint was the one who helped building the “highlights” of the Belgian pigeon sport... Still, he left. To far foreign countries. Restless in the soul of a man who always seemed to be very calm... Till 10 years ago, when he chose again for Flanders. From Taipei, he took his wife and daughter under his arm... The "lost son" was back home. In Zoutleeuw... These years became 10 happy years. With friends, with pigeons and acquaintances. Ten full years of success started to pile up. The result of good pigeons, of being strict, of a lot of work and endurance. Van Lint succeeded very well. Ten years of top sport and many victories later, Van Lint will shortly put a line under the third act of his life. Everything has to leave. Except for a few late youngsters, which can stay in Zoutleeuw. But the real belt will be thrown away. All Van Lint wants to do in his “after days” is to have some fun with a group of youngsters. Just for fun. And not "having to"... It’s been enough. It’s not possible to fill up a life even more... And at home, in de rest of Zoutleeuw, his wife and daughter are happy that "dad" made this final decision... Nothing is eternal, as Van Lint knows. And the age of 78 is a nice age to retire. Everything that will come, is a bonus. Later on, Michel Van Lint will start the overtime. Extra time... Time without stress and tension. Loosen the belts... Pay out the reins...

Michel Van Lint: we had the opportunity to know him all theses years. As an honest and attentive man of honour. And as a good fancier.  Little in figure but big in deeds. Above all of this, Michel Van Lint always stayed an “ordinary” man. No venom nor suspicion in his heart... He went for it. It has been enough. There’s only one wish; he hopes he can postpone the old men house for a long time... Peace and friendship in his Zoutleeuw and with his friends. And to what has been, gratitude remains. To stop at 78... Later on in February, Michel Van Lint will definitively close his scrapbook of  "his" pigeon sport. With a lot of gratitude to how it could and has passed. But very few will pile up so much winning as Van Lint did in his ten “last” years in Belgium.

Adieu, thank you, goodbye, man of the world...  The "lost son" isn’t lost any longer. May be he will start to write poems later on? Or may painting on a cloth of goat skin. We don’t expect Michel Van Lint to go and sit in a corner. There’s always a future and a view on tomorrow... Even at the age of 78! (28-10-2013)

Article of www.komkom.be, date 28/10/2013, author Ludo Geerts

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Don’t you think it’s good to know this? And we, after our stay of three weeks in the Far East, will be back on December 11th. In the mean time, stay healthy and let’s enjoy every day, every moment we’ll get. Stay well...

Your servant

THE LOST SON