“We’re leaving!” announced Linda last summer.
“Surely not so soon?” her girlfriends asked
incredulously.
“No, no, no, we’re not ‘leaving, leaving’, we’re
not bidding farewell to Oman!” clarified Linda.
“Michael and I are leaving on a long summer
holiday to Spain where we have some property. And you know what? The last time
we went there, we had bought Omani dates for our friends. And guess what? They
had date palms in their backyard and the dates that grew on them were so ripe
and juicy…”
Linda always spoke animatedly and was popular
among her friends.
Her friends looked forward to hearing stories
about her Spanish holiday when she got back.
At a coffee morning at the club after Linda’s
return, she sighed and said,
“We’re leaving.”
“Surely not so soon?” her friends asked with
concern.
“Oh no, we’re not ‘leaving, leaving’!” said
Linda waving ‘farewell’ with her hand.
“Michael and I are leaving our house because
our house is too old and parts of the roof caved in while we were on holiday.
It looks like a refugee camp right now. We are moving to a villa down the
street.”
At Linda’s housewarming party, she declared,
“Friends, we are leaving!”
Her friends had a ‘Now what?’ written on
their faces as they gathered in the living room, admiring Linda’s collection of
art from different parts of the world.
“Friends, Michael and I are ‘leaving,
leaving’!” said Linda emphatically.
Immediately, her circle of friends converged
around her and threw a volley of questions.
“Surely not so soon?”
“Isn’t this a housewarming party?”
“How many glasses of wine have you had this
evening?”
“What happened?”
“When?”
“Why?”
“Where?”
In that warm circle of concerned faces, Linda
had found an international sisterhood that she was surely going to miss
terribly.
“Well, you see, yesterday Michael went to the
HR office to check why his ‘extension of contract’ letter was delayed. To his
amazement, he realized that there would be no further extension of his contract
owing to the dip in oil prices. If only he had realized it sooner, we would
have moved to a hotel instead of moving into a new house. With some luck and
good contacts, he has found another job and we are leaving in two weeks.”
“Oh dear!” exclaimed her friends and gave her
a collective hug.
“Now, that gives us very little time to
bundle up our life here” said Linda.
Her friends gave suggestions for finding a
new job for the maid, for selling the cars, and for finding new homes for the
cats (most heartbreaking). Some of them even offered to run errands and to care
for Linda’s cats for a while till they found a new home (some consolation).
“I am so glad I have all of you and I will
miss you soooo much” Linda’s eyes watered.
“Awww… we will miss you too, Linda.” Another
big hug.
Michael walked in at this dramatic moment.
“Hey, you girls are supreme sentimental
fools, aren’t you?” More tears and hugs (Michael included!).
“Well” he said, freeing himself from the
tangle of middle-aged feminine arms, “In my opinion, our expat lives and moving
from place to place prepares us for our final farewell when it is time to meet
our Maker.”
