The Girls

The girls and H.  

H and Nana

The coming Sunday is a big, sad day because our dear friends are leaving us and returning to Croatia.  

"Nana" (as H has pegged her), Nina and Dunja have become better friends to us than so many coworkers we've known over the past year.  Of course, they have to return to their home across the world.  

I haven't spent much time with international students (they are all working on a master's degree next year) since I was one.  I had forgotten how much I loved having conversations about English idioms, learning about new foods and seeing my own home from a different perspective.   They love their home and have been so willing to share - even hosting a "Croatia Night" at work.  

For a crew of childless ladies, they are wonderful with H.  She asks to see Nana every day and Nana faithfully comes to visit her everyday.  She is one of the few people outside of my family that has watched H - and she does it for fun.  She gives me a break while I'm working and while Timothy is working in far off places.  I couldn't have invented a more perfect gift!  

We've been able to share Wyoming with them too.  We all went to Yellowstone this month and it was so fun to watch H get passed around among so many people she loves.

And yet, they are leaving in a few days.  How do I explain it to H the next time she asks for Nana?  How do we plan a quick trip to Croatia?  I can't think about it without crying a little.

I have to put in a plug for Croatia.  We plan to go someday (it'd be sooner if we weren't buying a house) and visit our dear friends and their thousands of islands in the Adriatic Sea.  You should go too - think of it as the secret alternative to Italy.    

I'll miss these three and hope to meet them again in the wide world.  Thank goodness for Skype!