Lost and found

Seems like the life of an expat is a repetitive cycle. Over and over and over...And it seems that friends cycle in and out of your life. I'm on an out cycle right now.

Lost: Yesterday, my friend Bo, Suzanne's godfather, moved back to China forever. This is a great loss to us and to Suzanne because he is one of the most amazing people I've ever met. Smart, curious and eye opening. One of the reasons we chose him to be Suzanne's Godfather is because we knew he'd leave one day and we always wanted him in our lives, always part of our extended family. But I will miss him. And I regret that he won't be able to see Suzanne grow and that Suzanne won't be able to learn and discover with him on a regular basis.

Lost: My good friend Bryony, also Suzanne's unofficial aunt, has decided to take a job in London. This is a great loss to me since I haven't had a friend like her in a very very long time, someone who I can share everything with no holds barred. She's the one we called at 5am when I went into labor and she's the one I call when my dear husband is less than perfect or when I have an existentiel crisis. She's also Suzanne's favorite person - she picks up the phone and says "wawo bahbee?" (translation hello, Bryony?) which attests to how often we are on the phone. We have 3 more months and then it'll be up to the Eurostar.

Lost: ok, not really lost but while we're at it...My mother left this morning after 3 weeks. It was a nice visit and she and Suzanne had a lot of quality time together. My choice to live far from home was not an accident and I miss my family, especially my mother. Who's to say if we would appreciate these visits so much if we saw each other more often, but with time or distance or a little of both, we have built up a nice mother-daughter and now grand-daughter relationship. So we'll miss "baba", Suzanne's word for her.

Found: as anyone in the blogosphere knows, the internet is incredible. When I came over here 10 years ago, the internet hadn't yet boomed. It bridges the physical and temporal distances. So while wasting time at work last week, I tracked down James, an Australian who I was very close with during my first trip abroad to Israel in 1991. I went to Israel on a high school program because I wanted to escape my "teenage angst bullshit" (to quote Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles) and I knew I could play the Israel card. Anyway, I don't quite remember why we didn't stay in touch or anything much about him to be honest, but I've always thought of him. Turns out he's in the Netherlands for work for a few months so we just met up for lunch in Brussels after I dropped my mother off. After 16 years, I can still see why we were so close back then.

So, I'm not saying that my "lost" people will be replaced by new people, but I know this is a cycle now so I won't be sad. And I know that although I'll be sad to not have Bo or Bryony around anymore, I'll fill the void somehow...