Always thought that I'd see you again

Putting another check mark on the Connecticut bucket list involved a stop at Tucker's in Fairfield where Neil, a friend of Shirley's from her first job tends bar on Friday nights. We were fortunate enough to be joined by 3 other colleagues of Shirley's and their significant others who also worked with Neil at the same school. It quickly turned into a combination of reunion and going-away as we received our first "going away gift", which caught me a bit off guard and served as a reminder of the imminence of this move.

I made a slip when we were leaving and said, "We wanted to see you one last time..." to which Neil retorted, "Hey, I'm only 55!" My comment came from 2 issues:

1) I often get asked, "How long are you going for?" When I first thought about exploring this idea I had envisioned going on an ex-pat contract with a finite time of say, 2 years, upon completion of which, it would be unlikely for me to be offered the opportunity to stay. Long story short, that did not pan out that way. I am taking a permanent job on a localized package, for many reasons, some of which will likely surface in future posts. In my interviews with my new boss, he warned me, "Mike, in 1994 I took a job in Taiwan thinking much like you, to stay a couple years and return to the U.S. I haven't been able to convince myself to leave." So Shirley and I being open minded about the time frame. I think it comes down to doing what will make you happy and eliminating obstacles that stand in the way.

2) The other issue is, you never know when you are seeing someone for the last time; don't take it for granted. What would things be like if we treated every encounter as though it was the last time we would ever see that person? Not easy to do. I wonder what I would have said differently if I had known that I was seeing my father for the last time ~6 years ago.

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