The Utah doctors believe the infection was the result of extensive dental work that Buijsman had undergone some months before. He wasn't feeling well. He and his wife decided that an American vacation would make him feel better.

Today, they laugh about that with the doctor. It did, but not the way they expected. Holland doctors have assured Buijsman he likely would have died had it ruptured back home

First, he says, came healing. Comfortable at home, new grandbaby in his arms, he felt a growing realization that he'd left something unfinished in Utah. So this week, he and his wife took a detour from yet another American vacation ("People are nice. I like Americans") and headed back to Salt Lake to say thanks.

On Thursday morning, as he toured the new Intermountain Medical Center, where many of his caregivers now work, he was greeted like an old friend by some of the nurses and social workers who got to know him during his monthlong "vacation." It feels, he notes, "like being back with family."

Then it was across town and up the hill to LDS Hospital, where he presented Wirthlin with a pair of genuine, not tourist, wooden shoes, "just like Holland farmers wear."

He also made a side trip to Temple Square to admire — what else? — the tulips.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com