Closure

A fitting title for the last post of the blog (at least for now). While it's still difficult to say goodbye to diplomatic life, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity that I had to go back into the field and spend time at one last post. In the 2015 "bidding cycle" (when foreign service officers find out what their next assignment will be) I was not initially excited about the prospects of moving to Bangladesh. In fact, I was quite resistant. But by the time we left Zimbabwe in June 2016 I had fully embraced the idea - only to have that opportunity abruptly aborted by the July 1, 2016 attack on an expat hangout in Dhaka. When the anniversary rolls around as it did recently, I still have quite vivid memories of that chaotic time in our lives. Living with John back at a post, having our whole family be together at post and travel in Africa as we did in May and spending time getting to know Malawi has brought a much better sense of closure. I'm hoping that it makes the transition out of the foreign service a bit smoother than it would have been if my abrupt end had really been the end. I've returned to Cincinnati to prepare to resume work next week and John will join me when he retires at the end of 2019.  It's been a wonderful 10 years but it's time to say ciao - for now - to expat life.