Susan LaffertyTwo years ago on this day, I sit beside my husband’s bed in the ICU. Two stents newly inserted into one of his arteries. Blood now flowing freely through his heart. In a place formerly 100-percent blocked.
Only hours before, we walk. Drive. Talk. Laugh. Following everyday routines. Ordinary schedules.
Not knowing danger lurks.
Oblivious to unseen, unnoticed blockage wreaking havoc. Beneath the surface. Under skin and flesh and vessel.
Life plans don’t always take shape and move in directions we imagined.
So many things upend our neatly-laid strategies and schedules.
Visa delay or rejection. Medical emergencies. Evacuations and political uncertainties.
Children struggling in new cultures and places. Needing extra help with education.
Sudden changes of co-workers, coming and going.
It feels like setback. Unwanted adjustments.
Fitting in when you enter a new culture can be a challenge.
My parents grew up in America and moved to Asia. Learned language and culture to fit in.
I grew up in Indonesia and loved the place of my childhood and teenage years. I spoke the language, played their games, knew how to bargain with the best. Had dear Indonesian friends.
But I wasn’t Indonesian.
Every four years we came and spent a year in the country of my passport. America.
I wasn’t sure I was American either.
