Thanksgiving: the shadow side

Okay, okay, so that Thanksgiving post was a bit Pollyanna. I admit it. Truth is, I chopped the last bit off the first draft. That was partly in line with my policy of trying to write shorter posts these days, partly because I thought it spoiled the Thanksgiving jollity, and partly because I thought it was an idea that merited a post of its own. Here is that last thought…

There's a line in the film Father of the Bride when Steve Martin is reflecting on how it feels to bring up a daughter. He says:

"There comes a day when you quit worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy, and that's the biggest fear of all, because then you lose her".

The Parent's Paradox. I suggest that there’s an Expat’s Paradox which parallels it. It goes like this:

“There comes a time when you quit worrying about this being the wrong place, and you worry about this being the right place, and that's the biggest fear of all, because then you lose something important of yourself”.

I'm not there myself yet, not by a long chalk, but perhaps my idyllic Thanksgiving break gave me a glimpse (maybe it was the redemptive green bean casserole that did it).

Blimey, these thoughts look a lot scarier typed out in black and white than I imagined they would.

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