Sylvia's Journal

You know that your children are all grown up and you have done a good job when they take you out to a nice restaurant and offer you exotic cocktails before choosing from an exquisite menu, and then pay the bill with their own credit cards, not your’s.

The girls and their mates took us out to a restaurant called Tryst, to celebrate a combined mother’s and father’s day. Maybe this is the beginning of a new family ritual called ‘Parents’ Day.’ It’s us who made you parents, they claimed and with that we toasted to each other, life and love with our 6 different and colorful cocktails. There were drinks with lavender, Earl Grey infusion (High Tea Cocktail), Campari, Champagne, pomegranate, honey, egg whites and a James Bond quaff with a long thin lemon twist.

We have much to be grateful about. Axel gave a solemn little speech about how many good things had been triggered by our accident, and how we appreciate and admire our own kids and their mates. We calculated that these ‘mates’ have now been in the family for 12 and 5 years respectively; they are nearly old married couples!

I am still trying to use up my vacation that I stand to lose in a couple of weeks but it’s only a half-hearted attempt as there is much that needs attention before I leave for Addis next week. This upcoming trip will be an entire month because our postponed visit to Kabul starts as soon as I leave Addis. Axel and I will meet up in the fancy hotel in Dubai on July 12th. MSH has offered to pay Axel’s reconnaissance trip for which I am very grateful.

After much deliberation we decided to accept the job offer now, ahead of time, rather than wait for the visit to Kabul in mid July. I was tired of being in this holding pattern and the MSH administrators are pleased that they can now start doing the paperwork to formally submit me as the selected candidate to the people who pay our bills in Kabul.

We have started to sort out things about the house (Tessa and Steve will move in), who will pay for what, health insurance, and the dismantling of my home office. Each topic explodes into a thousand big and small tasks. I haven’t figured out how to address these in a systematic fashion. I have several small notebooks on my desk with thoughts about things to bring, resolve, ask about, etc.

Today will be another half work-half vacation day that includes a lunch in Cambridge with Louise, someone I have to meet, according to my friend and ex-colleague Chuck. He claims we are kindred spirits, so I am looking forward to meeting her.