My sister sent me an email today with a transcript of family emails of news and questions about us and what was happening a year ago. It motivated me to go back and see where we were one year ago: we were just on the verge on a hair-raising few days of trying to evacuate. We had taught what would be the last day of school (which is still closed), and we were deciding to go downtown the next day to secure exit visas.
Hindsight is interesting.
1. We did not end up needing the reentry visas that we fought so hard to obtain - our reentry date passed long ago - last May. But the commitment that was behind it was important, I suppose.
2. We agonized over what clothes to take, selecting the most special. Then we lost them in Tunis!
3. We only evacuated what we might need for London in February - we thought we'd only be out a few weeks.
4. The dilemma of when to set return airfare was also a mute point - we missed our return flights last April.
5. Maybe most significantly - getting out was the right decision, though it was such a hard decision to make.
We've had to work hard at letting our mistakes rest. We have constantly wished we made different decisions about what we evacuated. We keep reminding ourselves that it was an impossible situation in which to make decisions - too little information and too much confusion and trauma.
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