Into the Future

06/03/08

Before Mary returned to the U.S. we discussed our future life apart. There are the miles, the time, and the experiences to negotiate. We could visualize each other’s life over the next 15 months. Mary would reconnect with our children, her family and friends much the same as before Peace Corps. Her life would revolve around the relationships with people. My life would continue to revolve around my Peace Corps projects and village events, a routine Mary knows well. Of course, there are always unforeseen happenings, but the immediate future doesn’t worry us. It is after Peace Corps that life becomes unpredictable.

I call returning from the Peace Corps, “Coming in from the Cold”, after John LeCarre’s novel. Something happens to a person who has been away a long time in a distant world. What was once the familiar is now unfamiliar. Does one return to the familiar, “the Cold”? Stay tuned folks, be patient, for the future does eventually revile itself. What can be predicted is whatever the future holds; it won’t be the way we imagined.