December 4, 2014

Please don't go...

This is the time of year when I start listening to Christmas carols... jazzy ones this year! I am already wrapping Christmas presents since we are anticipating Christmas this year and travelling to visit my family-in-law in Napoli tomorrow. This is good news because it means we'll be somewhere in the Caribbean over Christmas. Yupee!

But this evening has turned into a rather melancholic one. No, it is not the music, although it might be setting the mood?!

Today I heard of yet another family leaving at the end of the school year. Even if this seems in the far distance, I know time will creep up on us and before we know it we'll be hosting farewell parties.

Two friends, neither to whom I am very close, but close enough to feel sad tonight to see them go. I thought we'll be in Paris together until the bitter end... or at least until our older kids graduated.

Life goes on and being an expat, bidding farewell is part of the game, but nevertheless these two people have a special place in my heart: for their passion for life, their love for their kids, their enthusiasm for the school and the kudos they show every time they pick up their entire family and move on to an unfamiliar destination. They both always have a smile on their face, always!

We have toured Paris together, gave our kids' classmates a taste of our mother tongue, organised school bazaars, dressed up to surprise (and embarrass) the kids at sports day, saved graduation parties from disaster, tasted the Beaujolais Nouveau (not counting the calories) and had a whole lot of fun whenever we got together.

You will be sorely missed by the time you will be busy adapting to your new surroundings, but remember, I'll be waiting at the bottom of the staircase to organise a great welcome committee whenever you come back to town.

Good luck my friends. In boca al lupo! Gud lak sa 'yo! Suwerte!



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