Heeringa Family Newsletter

Once again this update letter is way overdue; IF we actually thought we would be bored here with nothing to do, we were obviously mistaken.  Life has really been beyond crazy (even for us) and we have not found the time or energy to write before now.  We are both struggling with the sense of isolation this "time out" has caused; we are detached from almost everything – our children, colleagues, friends, church, neighbors, “familiar”, language for communication, etc.  It has definitely been tougher than either of us had anticipated, and yet we now only have one month remaining of the required six months we must be out of the country.  During our time in France, we have managed some sightseeing and fun, but mostly been busy with work, logistics, visitors, and medical.

 

Work:  Terry still manages to work a full schedule even though he is not reporting to the office; modern technology allows him the capability to communicate with colleagues back in the UK and around the world.  He “attends” weekly staff meetings, participates in training sessions related to the new financial package, and receives phone calls on his computer which were dialed directly to his UK office extension.  However, people there are learning this new system together and he is not benefiting from being “on-site” and, as a team leader, he feels he is not doing much good from here.

 

Logistics:

While Terry has stayed busy with his job, Darla has been working on all the necessary logistics for our family – arranging Rachel’s trips back and forth to us, handling all the details related to Emily’s graduation, college and financial aid, making travel plans and bookings for everyone to their various locations, scheduling our medical appointments, completing all the necessary company paperwork for our time in the States this summer, etc.  It has been a full-time job!  In fact, our days usually consist of Terry sitting at the desk on one computer while Darla is working on another around the corner from him.

 

Visitors and Trips:

In addition to both girls visiting on their various school breaks, we have had several groups of guests staying with us.  Some were actually involved in helping Rachel get here; others came for a short vacation.  The Finance Leadership Team from our office even visited us for a few days and held meetings at the house which allowed Terry to be involved “in person” without traveling there.  Recently we enjoyed spending some time with visitors from our church back in Waco who were passing through on their way to see another family.  Both of us also made separate trips back to the UK – Terry went for work and some additional training while Darla attended Rachel’s Parent Evening at her school and had some much needed “social” time with friends.  Plus some of the ladies here planned a weekend trip to the French coast in late February and invited Darla to join them.  However, Emily is definitely the one who has traveled a lot lately.  During the nine months of her Senior Year, she will have stayed several nights in nine different countries!!  She skied for the first time in the Swiss Alps during a school retreat; she spent a week in Athens, Greece on a mission trip with several others from her school as part of her Spring Break; then she and a group of students just returned from a three-day “field trip” to London as part of their AP classes.

 

Medical:

As you may remember, Terry’s heart had gone out of rhythm again back in November and his third catheter ablation was scheduled.  However, it corrected on its own before the surgery date, so we were waiting for the next time it happened.  Well, that occurred on Wednesday, March 17; amazingly after a few phone calls, surgery was scheduled two days later.  Therefore we quickly packed our bags, made arrangements for the dog, and boarded the Eurostar (fast train) back to London.  He was in surgery for SIX long hours. According to the cardiologist, this one was even more complicated than the others, but he is hopeful the problem may have truly been corrected - only time will tell.  After staying overnight in the hospital, we returned to our house in the UK for the following week to allow him time to recover before coming back to France.  Then during the last month, all of us have had lots of doctor’s visits and medical tests to help satisfy our company’s requirements; we must receive medical clearance from them in order to return overseas after our time in the States this summer.  Darla also had several cysts removed from her lower eyelid and is still treating the affected area.  She commented after the procedure that no matter how “minor” the surgery, it is just weird to have something done in a country where you do not speak the local language! 

 

Upcoming Travel:

Starting Saturday, we will be traveling almost non-stop for the next six weeks.

 

May 22 – 26:  Terry and Darla drive to Germany to visit Emily, attend her Senior Tea, and spend a day with her at school.

 

May 24 – 28:  Rachel and her school group have a “field trip” to France.

May 30 – June 2:  We return to the UK for an Office of Finance retreat.  We will be driving so we can take some of our "stuff" back.

June 3 – 6:  Rachel and some British family friends will be here with us for the last days of their Half Term Break.  They will take the Eurostar back to England.

June 9 – 12:  Darla's mom arrives in Paris; the three of us drive to Germany for Emily's graduation activities; Rachel and another friend fly over to attend; then we all leave for our respective locations while Emily flies to Lithuania with her best friend from school.

June 15:  Darla’s mom leaves Paris – after some additional sight-seeing.

June 16:  We finish cleaning the house here, packing up, and drive back to England.

June 17:  Emily flies to the UK.

June 21:  Terry, Darla, and Emily leave for Houston.

July 17:  Rachel flies to Houston as an unaccompanied minor, so she only misses the final week of school.  (What is another month apart at this point?!)

Sept 1:  Terry and Rachel leave for the UK (arriving the next day) so she can recover from jetlag and start school on the 6th.

Sept 10:  Darla leaves Houston.

 

During our time in the States, we will also be quite busy.  Emily will be attending college orientation, establishing medical care, learning to drive and hopefully getting her driver’s license, moving into the dorm and starting at Baylor University.  Terry and Darla will be traveling to Virginia for a required conference from July 12 – 17.  After returning from this trip and Rachel’s arrival, we will again be staying at the house provided by FBC-Lake Jackson.  Some dear friends from England (a family of seven) will be arriving for several days in early August – after they first visit New York AND Los Angeles; so far we have a baseball game, a trip to NASA, and Mexican food on their schedule. J  As much as possible while we are there, we intend to spend time with family, shop, eat lots of good American food but also try to rest, relax and enjoy being together under the same roof for a WHOLE month.  These last few months have been especially difficult for us and we need time to regroup and reconfirm our commitment.

 

Our family would really appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers during this exciting, yet stressful, period of time.  We are obviously quite concerned about all the upcoming travels, especially with the continued disruptions caused by the volcanic ash; we do not have much flexibility in the schedule.  We are also getting ready to see our firstborn graduate from High School and begin college – if you have been there already, you know the thoughts and emotions this brings.  The required medical clearance must also be granted before any of us can board the plane.  We also would like our time in Texas to be exactly what all four of us need, while we still obey the requirements for a stateside assignment; we don’t want to be so busy “doing” that we forget to enjoy “being”.  We do apologize in advance for those of you we cannot visit.  Please know that the support and continued faithfulness from so many definitely helps us on the journey!

 

During one of her recent trips, Emily saw this quote in Oxford and thought it applied to our family:  “Faithful but Unfortunate”

 

Love, the Heeringa Family

Terry and Darla in France

Emily in Germany

Rachel in England