21 Kas Michiel de Bruijn
Kaya & myself were first introduced as colleagues, where for a few months we had the pleasure of working together in multiple projects.
From the get-go he was very analytical and loaded with heaps of knowledge in his work which in many ways is also what he’s like in his private life, from knowing the date of the Constantinople invasions from the top of his head (seriously, who knows that kind of stuff!) to quoting historic leaders, he definitely wasn’t my average friend. Both being interested in history & politics we always used to have enough to debate and discuss. Within a period of days we started meeting up outside of work, decorating Kaya’s flat as well as discovering the city.
In true Kaya style it took him over a week to stop calling me ‘sir’ which I think for Kaya means we were officially friends! The majority of our friendship, Kaya has been ill and I know that not being able to be his true self, also towards Eylul, was something that weighed quite heavily on him. However throughout his illness he always tried to focus on things outside of himself when speaking to others, how my projects were, if I was dating someone yet, the next crazy thing that happened between the Netherlands and Erdogan. And on top of that, he was grateful for the things he did have. The way he spoke about his selfless mom, family & Eylul and how they handled his sickness is something I’ll always admire and I know he appreciated that until the end.
Kaya is one of the most gentle, beautiful and kindest souls I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing and I’ll always treasure the time and conversations I got to have with him.
To quote something Kaya wrote me not too long ago “Maybe we’ll kick ass elsewhere in the world in a not so distant a future.” It might not be in the not so distant future, but I’m sure we’ll kick ass elsewhere in this world or the next..