Living abroad.
Ex-patriot.
Resident alien.
Foreigner.
All terms which lead to a form of “identity Crisis.” But these are all names that my friends and family call me. (They do call me other things as well…but let’s stay on message!). As with most things I’m called (never “Late for Dinner”) I heed them very little. Except that they all add to the realization that I’m distant from my family and friends where I grew up… or as most of my family and friends readily acknowledge, where I got older; I’m still working on growing up:)
Case in point. On my periodic “welfare check” phone call to my sister, all calls went to voicemail. Naturally, the first couple of times I assumed she lost her phone again, so no big deal. After several tries, I called her husband’s cell phone to hear she was laying the in hospital. Disturbing. I talked to her. “Maybe a stroke, we’re not sure yet. I’ll call you back.”
She is definitely getting up in the years, unlike me. (See above, not grown up yet). So I worry. But then I also recollect lately a lot about when we were young. To this very day, I remember driving to visit Grandma Crall et al, my most secure place was napping with my head on my big sister’s lap. No matter where I have been in the world, with guns and bombs going off around me, laying in a hospital after being slashed by a knife, injured when roping from a helicopter, no matter….safest place was in that old Oldsmobile with my head in her lap. And now she’s having strokes? What up with that. She’s getting older!
So as an “ex-pat” i check my communication options. Am I too hard to get a hold of? (Yes, Vince, I know it’s not good grammar:)) For both business and convenience, I maintain a US telephone number (I recommend Ring Central, not cheap, but very very effective!) so everyone can dial me like I was in the states. I maintain it on a VPN (expressVPN) to keep things direct, secure, and give me control of when and where I can communicate for business and pleasure. So, In My Humble Opinion, it’s not an obstacle about global communication.
Lack of notification for an illness (serious or not) may be just a function of the old adage “Out of Sight, Out of Mind.” Admittedly, whenever I’ve been involved in some injury or illness emergency, notification was for immediate proximity, then later worry about distant family notifications and such. So I understand