Recently, I was in Roermond and came across a beautiful love story from the 19th century.

Love against all odds
In the 19th century, the paths of a Catholic noblewoman, Josephine van Afferden, and a Protestant soldier, Jacobus van Gorkum, cross. The noble lady falls in love with the officer who fights against Napoleon's troops and receives the Military Order of William for it. Although Jacobus rises to the rank of major general, he is of common birth. Their love is therefore overshadowed by differences in faith, status and wealth.

Indestructible bond
Yet it does not prevent them both from celebrating their love and they enter into marriage. After a loving life, Jacobus dies in 1880 and is buried in the Protestant cemetery of Roermond. In a strange place: against the wall that marks the division between the Protestant and Catholic cemetery. Josephine dies eight years later and is buried on the other side of the wall in the Catholic cemetery. And there, amid the division over faith and traditions, the true love story unfolds; the graves of both lovers are connected by two hands, intertwined and reaching over the wall, as a symbol of their indestructible bond.

Belief in the power of love
Their love not only overcame the barriers of faith and social status, but reached beyond the boundaries of death itself. The 'grave with the two little hands' is still intact, as if it wants to inspire us to believe in the power of love. The power to build bridges and connect us on a deeper level.

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