We came full circle when Emre was selected to take over my previous job, based in Jamaica. We moved back to DC this summer but returned to Jamaica for a week in September for a “handover mission.” I was invited to dinner at their new home in Kingston, and was able to participate in some of the dinner rituals they had developed as a family.
Those of us in this “Global circle” of friends have some common experiences.
First, we have really fun parties. The mixing of music, cultures, and inexpensive costumes all help. One of my favorite memories of Annette and Emre was when they dressed up as monsters for the haunted house we had constructed on our porch in Phnom Penh for Halloween. They clearly continued this tradition.
Second, we form strong friendships: International communities are often small and welcoming of new arrivals. You spend time together at work meetings, play dates, school events, pool parties, and go on safaris and travel together. We also learn to support each other through difficult times.
Third, we are spread around the globe, yet we are strongly interconnected. I think there are only two degrees of separation among anyone who has attended an international school or worked in international development. For example, our friends from Vienna, Flori and Raymond, moved to Mozambique and became friends with Annette and Emre. And recently my colleagues and friends in Jamaica welcomed Annette, Emre, Troy and Phoenix into their new community.
Of course, all of us here are connected to Annette. And Annette had a special gift for connecting with people and making connections among people. But if I had a very large ball of colorful yarn, we could start stringing it among everyone in this room who had other connections or friends in common, and it would soon be criss-crossing the room. If it were a Really big ball of yarn, we could start connecting it to all the friends Annette, Emre, Troy and Phoenix have around the world. We would have a dense web of friendships and connections.
Finally, Annette understood the most difficult but vital aspect of living internationally: starting over and staying connected. We invest in new friends knowing that eventually, one of us will leave. And we will need to start over. Annette knew this and knew how to make a new home for her family and dive into a new community. She had already been elected as Secretary of the Parent Teacher Organization for the international school in Kingston. And she knew the importance of maintaining and nurturing friendships and connections, whether with friends from previous country postings, or family and childhood friends back home.
So for Emre, Troy, Phoenix, and Annette’s family: you have created, with Annette, this strong network of connections and friendships, which stretches around the world. We are here to support you; to laugh, cry, and celebrate with you; and to keep her memory alive in the months and years to come.
