Countdown to Qatar: Letting Go of Family
Going Further from Home and Family This holiday week-end, my Dad, Jerry, my step-mom, Dottie, and my grand-niece, Paige, drove the long trip from Illinois to see me before I depart in another five weeks. We spent a rainy Friday at The Breaks Interstate Park so Paige could see the dramatic landscape so very different from the flat lands of her home state. This morning, I sent them home with a smile on my face, but I teared up on the way back into the house. One more act of letting go. In fact, after I move, I will probably see them as much, perhaps even more, than I do now. But there is something about putting an 8-10 hour plane ride (rather than an 8-10 hour car ride) between us that suggests a deeper, more lasting separation. My new employer, the Qatar University College of Law , will pay for an annual trip home. It will also give me $5,000/year to spend on conference attendance -- some of which I will spend in the U.S. But, if I want to keep my income largely t