Air France Tragedy Hits Home

Waking to news about the Air France plane crash from Leone, I listened continuously for news 2 days ago. Yesterday we were both saddened and relieved to hear they had found debris from the plane. It is devastating to hear of any tragedy like this, but since I have begun flying so much it affects me much differently than it used to.

Since I am officially an expat in another country, when we hear of plane crashes they hit close to home. The chances we know of *someone* on that plane have gone up tremendously since we took this job. Most expats spend a good bit of time in the air; for us it is 24+ hours flying home and 27+ hours flying back. It is difficult to plan your lives around expat life. Our friends in Singapore are expats as well, and fly as often as we do.

Since we all live in such a convenient place to fly to other countries for vacation (or holiday), we are all often going this way and that and have trouble catching up with each other. In the last month, S1 has left and come back from the states, I left for the states, D came back from the states, S2 went to Indonesia (and returned) and C left for Scotland.

The girls in the company spouse's club have also come and gone, so planning with other expats is often challenging on a friendship or association - but they are challenges we are all willing to work around. In no way do they compare to our native country 'home' life where we are all occasionally gone. In expat life, occasionally home in our new country is a better description.

When I first told Steve about the Air France disaster, he asked the origin and destination of the flight. When I told him, he had a funny look on his face and said our company had a lot of work going on in Brazil - hoping against hope we would not be touched directly by this tragedy.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a sister in our company informing us of the worst possible news; we have lost 2 (company) family members - we lost not only an employee (vice president of a division) but another employee's young son as well. The young man was apparently going home for holiday. He was not yet a teenager.

I have no idea why I am posting this on here. Maybe I wanted the world to know that even though we lost someone we have never met, they are 'family' in a different way and we are deeply affected by their deaths and saddened we will never have the opportunity to get to know them. Maybe I am posting this to ask for prayers, not only for their families, but for all the other families affected by this tragedy. Maybe I am posting this to say 'I love you' to all the other expats I have met. You have certainly changed my life and I love what you have given me in return. Every day is precious and today I realize that even more than yesterday.

Maybe I am posting this, just because it hits so close to home it hurts. Words seem inadequate to express the loss we feel. Our company has been touched by a tragedy worse than the financial crisis - we have lost a colleague and a child.