Strange thought …

Ooh, I’ve just been overcome by a strange thought that has been sloshing around on the edges of consciousness ever since we decided to try for an expat life:  what if either of my parents die while I’m away?

Now I know, in the rational bits of my brain, that death or the possibility of it, accompanies all of us, all the time and we somehow reach an accommodation with the thought whereby it doesn’t cripple us provided we acknowledge it’s presence occasionally.

But my father is 83, fit and healthy – not that that’s a ‘get out of jail free card’, there are plenty of perfectly healthy people who die!  Maybe my misgivings are around the distance and logistics of getting back to the UK from Hanoi.  As the oldest of three daughters I would anticipate people looking to me for guidance and support and realistically I simply won’t be there for them in those first few hours.

This might seem like a very morbid topic for a post but it’s real and important to think about so as to prepare myself as best I can for the eventuality which – God willing – won’t happen!

I have some processing to do around this issue and will write more if it seems pertinent.  All comments welcome please from everyone who has had to deal with just such an event or at least the thought process around the possibility.

🙂