WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE BELGIUM PEER - THE PINK REBEL - By Luc Schrijvers - Part 48 - 17 April 2026

 Giving those lectures is, for the time being, no longer a good idea.”

“Luc, what are you doing?!”, Charles shouted in Brussels Jazz Club.

I was tearing an envelope.

“Isn't this just an envelope?” I said.

“No, there's €500 in it! What are you doing?!"

What?

“Fronto-temporal dementia,” said Dr. Soors.

“A very complex and seriously disruptive form of dementia. I guess that's it, I see few other options.”

It was March 2013. Me, my family, my friends: we were all shocked. Dementia? But I'm so young? I now know perfectly where I am and why? All kinds of things are going wrong and I can't remember them well, but I am also so clear for long periods of time? What is happening?I decided to just continue living in Brussels – this was my home, I worked here, this is where I was at home. I was going to be closely watched. I understood that too, everything and everyone had to stay safe.

“Why do I just feel normal sometimes, Doctor?”

“That's a yo-yo effect. This is very common with dementia.

Clear moments alternate with very confused moments.”

"Okay, thank you".

“Do you know why you are here, Luc?” a man asks. It's April.

"Who?"

"Luc?"

"Who?"

“The police arrested you at the fellowship, on Anspachlaan.”

"Where?"

“People have called because they were worried about you.”

What?

I had to stop at Brussels Jazz Club. I could no longer use a calculator. I could no longer read the clock. They would replace me with someone else for the time being.

“You can come back when you're better, Luc.”

Charles and I hugged.

By July, more drastic measures were taken. I had to return to Peer to live with my parents. This was on the advice of my neurologist, in consultation with mom and dad. It was for my own safety. I felt…just like a child again. Always tell me where I was going, don't go out alone too much, preferably always take someone with me, in case things go wrong…So tiring. So annoying. Especially during my lucid moments. This really wasn't fun.

I missed my real life, in Brussels, so much. I was lonely, none of this felt right. I missed my friends, I missed meeting new people, I missed activism, I missed love.

Through dating sites I occasionally met some nice men to talk to and build a nice connection. That is not the same as getting to know someone at a café in Brussels, but it was also a nice alternative. In August 2013 it was also the next No Border camp, this time in Rotterdam. I had to go! We made a lot of preparations for this. I would travel there by train, with all kinds of medical papers in my pocket, a strict travel schedule and contact information for the medical staff in the camp. The medical staff knew that I had been diagnosed with fronto-temporal dementia, they were prepared for it. If something went wrong along the way, help could always be contacted. I felt great and clear: I went back to my place, in the battle.

There were quite a lot of people on the train. There were a lot of retirees out and about and we had a nice chat.

Suddenly we were in Rotterdam and there were police around me. Also people from the No Border camp, the medical team, a nurse, the train ticket cutter. We stood on the platform. I woke up right then and there, but –

how? Are we here yet?

“Luc, you started ranting on the train.”

49.