I lost 2 great doctors this year, and I hope that they didn’t retire because of me.

I cannot express proper emotions or affection, so I express my true feelings in words, and I need Dr Datema and Dr Tjaden to know that you were two of the best doctors in my life and I don’t want you judging me as a patient in pain and I always loved you and I was always grateful for the way you treated me like a good person, and I know that I can be impossible, and I cannot speak properly, so I will write to you to express my gratitude and appreciation for being almost a father figure to me since I was age 4.

And Dr Datema was respected by my mother and because she listened to Dr Datema, my mother NEVER beat me.

I was diagnosed very late in life, and I was at university and I was almost 23 when I was diagnosed as Asperger Autism and ADHD, and when I was growing up in St Maarten, there was no Autism and ADHD….

There were only good and bad children, and the remedy for ADHD were daily beatings and it was people like Datema who discouraged beatings and he explained that beatings only made children worse.

So, my mother stopped the abuse and my abuse was so severe, I attempted suicide at age 7. So had the abuse continued, I would have succeeded in suicide, but I am alive, because people like Dr Datema refused to believe that hyperactivity deserved beatings.

So I have to pay tribute to 2 good St Maarten doctors who accepted me, and they put a stop to the daily abuse, because beatings meant that I was suicidal and overdosing on pills at age 7.

And I would walk to Pelican to see Dr Datema and he would listen and never judged me, and he would refuse to take any money. And he gave me hope, because he assured me that I was different, but there was nothing wrong with me.

People like Dr Datema have no idea how many lives they have saved, and I am alive because of good doctors who said I was intelligent, when the schools said I was retarded and they put me in remedial school, and I was forced to repeat class TWICE. And in the 3rd grade, I was told by my European teacher that I was too stupid, I was told to give up, because I could only be a maid.

And words like that destroys an 8 year old, but I refused to believe it, because I had doctors like Dr Datema who said I was smart and I believed him and because of people like him, I never ever gave up, and because I believed in Dr Datema, NOBODY could discourage me.

And because I was aggressive and couldn’t sit still, I was suspended and expelled and I was a high school drop out, but I refused to give up, so understand the power of Dr Datema and I was saved by Patricia Lourens and she spoke to my mother and I was given one chance to graduate. But I had to teach myself at home and attend school only for tests, and I went from a high school drop out, to passing 16 subjects and I realized that I could learn better at home and I became autodidacta which means that I learn best when I teach myself.

So, I have to thank Dr Datema and later Dr Tjaden because I was beaten and verbally abused every day. And I was maybe 15 years old and I refused to believe that I was bad, because people like Dr Datema told me that I was okay. And my own mother would verbally abuse me, because she didn’t understand that words hurt more than the beatings.

And because I had one person to encourage me and tell me I was smart, Dr Datema got me away from suicidal thoughts.

And Dr Datema was right, because in St Maarten I was beaten, verbally abused, and because I stuttered, I was called crazy and retarded. And I realized that I could not focus in class, but I could sit at home and teach myself anything.

And I went from high-school drop out, to earning two educational scholarships and I was suddenly a University student and I believe that all I needed was encouragement without judgment.

So, doctor Datema was more than a doctor, he was almost a surrogate father and he was handsome and I had a crush, so I believed him when he said that I could do anything.

And Dr Datema was right all along. At university I was sent for testing and I was diagnosed as Asperger Autist and ADHD and my IQ tested at 169 and I cried, because in St Maarten, my hyperactivity was just me being crazy, and because I learned differently differently, I called retarded and not even my family encouraged me, but it took one person to encourage me and give me confidence and that was Dr Datema and I have to let him know how much he did for not just me, but he did so much for St Maarten and he needs to know that he impacted so many in St Maarten and I grew up and I had a difficult time in my 20s, but Dr Datema never gave up on me. And I met Dr Tjaden later in life, but he was also so understanding and I was at my worst and I was going down the wrong path and they never ever gave up on me.

So, I hope that I am not the reason that they resigned. And I cried when they told me that 2 of the best St Maarten doctors are gone.

But I don’t know how to express myself properly when speaking, so I write all of my feelings and I hope you guys realize that I don’t want to be difficult but PTSD is why I am still not 100% .

But I really hope that Dr Datema and Dr Tjaden stay in St Maarten and continue to do good, especially when you deal with difficult people like me.

I LOVE AND MISS YOU GUYS AND I HOPE YOU MISS MY MISERABLE ASS TOO!

They have no idea how many times they saved my life, because I couldn’t disappoint my mother or my doctors. So I hung in there and THANK YOU

Judith Regina Roumou