The world is truly a small place. Not many nights ago, I sat down for supper with Gerry Stoddart and Tim Van Goodouver. Last Wednesday, I ate my evening meal with Nona Kettlewell. And told them all about the last reunion with the employees and friends of KAO. It so happened that I had the same digital recorder with me and so played for Nona the special message from a friend she had first met in Kyrgyzstan!!! Within the same few days, I talked with Bruce who had worked with Jim Guthrie and Bruce Alexander in the Arctic so many years ago and will head back to the Arctic again this year, where I have no doubt he will report that all of us in Kyzylorda are doing just fine in another wild and crazy place.
And then heard all about Djakarta and all the friends who ended up there and are now working in places like India and Yemen and heaven knows where. All this around a table in Kyzylorda, out in the desert, miles and miles from anywhere. And just a few months ago, I found myself at a summer dinner table with Dave Harris, Martin Smith, Olga Slonim and Glen Hutka. Sometimes I forget where I am and what year it is.
But time has flown by and so we found ourselves at not the 5th or the 8th, but the 12th KAO reunion. And darn it, Ron Shannon looked exactly as he did when I last saw him!!! How does he do that? And Gerry Gurba has the same big smile and Dr. Bob’s laugh has the same sound it always did. No change in Ekrom either!!! Look at the pictures to see how well everyone is doing. Irina and Dima, and Lena and Grant and Dennis and Ruby all send greetings. To hear what they and Nataliya and Bob and all the others have to say, listen to the voice files that Dima has attached.
It was a small group this year, and we missed some people. No Lynn, no Evgeny, no Matilda, no Alexander, no Dave, no Masha, no Anya, no Gord, Denis, or Nicolle, no Alexei. But we sure thought of them, along with Barry and Darlene, and Marlo and Judy, and Murray and Irina in Kazakhstan. And all the many, many friends who couldn’t be with us in Calgary.
Please take a moment to join me in sending Marlo our best wishes. Marlo, we are thinking about you and remembering all the tough times and the good times in Usinsk and Sudan and Kazakhstan.
Here’s a long shot: each time I attend one of the reunions, I take something along that reminds me of Usinsk. This time I wore a ring that I had bought in the market there. And lost it at the party. The ring is rose coloured gold with a small white band of white gold and some tiny diamonds on the top. It has a wide band and is a fairly small size fitting my pinkie finger. However, it fit a bit too loosely and I shouldn’t have worn it, but it brought back such good memories of prowling thru the State stores in the early days, trying to find something interesting. I think it came off during the evening and rolled onto the floor. I went back the next day, but there was no sign of it. If you found it, please give me a call at 1 250 370 0962.
Have a look at the pictures in the gallery. Thanks to Dennis and Ruby for doing all the work to keep us connected, and thanks to Dima for using his talents to set up the cyberlinks. I wish you all the best in 2004. May it be a healthy and prosperous year.
Enjoy the photos!
Verna Perry
December 07, 2003
Almaty, Kazakhstan