January 11, 2017
A Mother and the Power of Intuition
Pia de Jong
Literary Novelist,
Author of Saving Charlotte: A Mother and the Power of Intuition
Pia de Jong, author and columnist
Minutes of the 15th Meeting of the 75th Year
President Jock McFarlane called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. in the Friend Center of Princeton University. There were 87 members and guests:
Landon Jones brought Sam Hamill
Donald Healy brought Stan Rosenberg
Robert Cagan brought Ingrid Cagan.
Arthur Eschenlauer led the invocation. Julia Coale presented the minutes of the Jan. 4 meeting.
Saving Charlotte: A Mother and the Power of Intuition
Many in the audience knew, from her September 2015 Princeton Old Guard talk, that Pia de Jong was a remarkable individual. On Jan. 11 you discovered how truly remarkable Ms. De Jong is.
Landon Jones, who became Ms. de Jong’s guardian angel soon after her 2012 move into the director’s house of the Institute for Advanced Study, referred to Edmund Wilson in his introduction. Lanny stated that Wilson “argued that artists often react against a personal crisis by turning their struggle into a source of creative power. That is exactly what happened to Pia.”
For Ms. de Jong, 2000 began as a fine year. She was a psychotherapist working as a management consultant, Robbert was a brilliant physicist and they had two lovely boys and a traditional Amsterdam canal house. As Ms. de Jong phrased it, “Life was good. Life was predictable. We had many plans.”
Then Charlotte was born. Almost immediately Ms. de Jong and her midwife saw spots that turned blue on the baby’s skin. Ms. de Jong instinctively suspected leukemia. Ms. de Jong couldn’t stop touching Charlotte’s body. “It represented everything -- hope, strength, meaning, laughter, warmth, future, connection and, above all, love.”
Soon came the dreadful news. Charlotte was born with congenital myeloid leukemia. The doctor said Charlotte likely had little time left. Chemotherapy was the recommended treatment. There was no evidence that this would save Charlotte.
The de Jongs decided to take Charlotte home. “We decided to do nothing,” Ms. de Jong said. “No chemo, no medicine, no treatment whatsoever.” Ms. de Jong knew how badly stress affected the immune system. She felt that by remaining tranquil this would have a calming influence on Charlotte.
Caring for Charlotte became a 24/7 job. Ms. de Jong considered her home her castle. Their need for calm and privacy was often breached, both by well-meaning and “ill meaning” people. While the de Jongs hoped for a miracle, they sought to prepare their boys for loss and bought a gravesite for baby Charlotte.
Ms. de Jong suspended her life to care for Charlotte, who had a pattern of gaining strength and then regressing. Suddenly, after a year the tumor spots disappeared. A greatly surprised oncologist declared that Charlotte’s leukemia was in remission. Though evidence on baby leukemia remission was scant, the doctor said that, were Charlotte to be in remission for five years, then she would be cured.
Now with a seemingly healthy daughter, Ms. de Jong gradually faced the journey of constructing her new life. Ms. de Jong decided that she didn’t want to return to her career as a psychotherapist working as a management consultant. As she put it, she wanted to be listened to rather than to listen to others.
Ms. de Jong found her voice in writing. Her first novel won the Flemish Golden Owl Award from readers. Often writing late at night, Ms. de Jong swiftly produced another award-winning novel, a children’s book, poetry and a weekly column in the Dutch Financial Times. Since moving to Princeton, Ms. de Jong has provided 225 consecutive weekly columns for a prominent Dutch newspaper, written for The Washington Postand The Huffington Post, and has published several scholarly articles.
For years Ms. de Jong worked on a memoir of her experience with Charlotte’s leukemia. Published in Dutch in 2016 to rave reviews, “Saving Charlotte” will appear in English in the summer of 2017. Meanwhile, Ms. de Jong kisses her healthy daughter in the morning, before Charlotte leaves for her classes at Princeton High School.
Respectfully submitted,
Keith Wheelock
Landon Jones brought Sam Hamill
Donald Healy brought Stan Rosenberg
Robert Cagan brought Ingrid Cagan.
Arthur Eschenlauer led the invocation. Julia Coale presented the minutes of the Jan. 4 meeting.
Saving Charlotte: A Mother and the Power of Intuition
Many in the audience knew, from her September 2015 Princeton Old Guard talk, that Pia de Jong was a remarkable individual. On Jan. 11 you discovered how truly remarkable Ms. De Jong is.
Landon Jones, who became Ms. de Jong’s guardian angel soon after her 2012 move into the director’s house of the Institute for Advanced Study, referred to Edmund Wilson in his introduction. Lanny stated that Wilson “argued that artists often react against a personal crisis by turning their struggle into a source of creative power. That is exactly what happened to Pia.”
For Ms. de Jong, 2000 began as a fine year. She was a psychotherapist working as a management consultant, Robbert was a brilliant physicist and they had two lovely boys and a traditional Amsterdam canal house. As Ms. de Jong phrased it, “Life was good. Life was predictable. We had many plans.”
Then Charlotte was born. Almost immediately Ms. de Jong and her midwife saw spots that turned blue on the baby’s skin. Ms. de Jong instinctively suspected leukemia. Ms. de Jong couldn’t stop touching Charlotte’s body. “It represented everything -- hope, strength, meaning, laughter, warmth, future, connection and, above all, love.”
Soon came the dreadful news. Charlotte was born with congenital myeloid leukemia. The doctor said Charlotte likely had little time left. Chemotherapy was the recommended treatment. There was no evidence that this would save Charlotte.
The de Jongs decided to take Charlotte home. “We decided to do nothing,” Ms. de Jong said. “No chemo, no medicine, no treatment whatsoever.” Ms. de Jong knew how badly stress affected the immune system. She felt that by remaining tranquil this would have a calming influence on Charlotte.
Caring for Charlotte became a 24/7 job. Ms. de Jong considered her home her castle. Their need for calm and privacy was often breached, both by well-meaning and “ill meaning” people. While the de Jongs hoped for a miracle, they sought to prepare their boys for loss and bought a gravesite for baby Charlotte.
Ms. de Jong suspended her life to care for Charlotte, who had a pattern of gaining strength and then regressing. Suddenly, after a year the tumor spots disappeared. A greatly surprised oncologist declared that Charlotte’s leukemia was in remission. Though evidence on baby leukemia remission was scant, the doctor said that, were Charlotte to be in remission for five years, then she would be cured.
Now with a seemingly healthy daughter, Ms. de Jong gradually faced the journey of constructing her new life. Ms. de Jong decided that she didn’t want to return to her career as a psychotherapist working as a management consultant. As she put it, she wanted to be listened to rather than to listen to others.
Ms. de Jong found her voice in writing. Her first novel won the Flemish Golden Owl Award from readers. Often writing late at night, Ms. de Jong swiftly produced another award-winning novel, a children’s book, poetry and a weekly column in the Dutch Financial Times. Since moving to Princeton, Ms. de Jong has provided 225 consecutive weekly columns for a prominent Dutch newspaper, written for The Washington Postand The Huffington Post, and has published several scholarly articles.
For years Ms. de Jong worked on a memoir of her experience with Charlotte’s leukemia. Published in Dutch in 2016 to rave reviews, “Saving Charlotte” will appear in English in the summer of 2017. Meanwhile, Ms. de Jong kisses her healthy daughter in the morning, before Charlotte leaves for her classes at Princeton High School.
Respectfully submitted,
Keith Wheelock