The Thread (M)

If you are merely hanging on by a thread for too long, it will break, and you will fall.
Your only chance of survival is to have a strong net below to catch you when you fall.

Given the lifestyle I have chosen to lead, I often find myself precariously hanging by that thread. The minute I set myself on some sturdy ground, I recklessly swing back out there in an almost sado-masochistic manner, and I admit, I have fallen, a lot.

Yet I am still miraculously standing, and even more miraculously is the impenetrable net I have amazingly constructed below. This net is comprised of family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers whom I have met or who have entered this whirlwind of my life and supported me along the way. Some consciously, others not, but regardless, I don’t think I could ever possibly thank the many people who have supported me along the way and for whom I am eternally grateful.

So this part below is super cheesy as it does sound a bit like I just won an Emmy or something, but at this point, successfully making it to London would be just as great an achievement for me. In California terms, we like to say that the following is a “Shout Out” to some (but certainly not all) the people who have helped me along the way.

These people include my high school friends who albeit the different directions we have chosen, still encourage me wherever my passion lies, my college friends who have seen me through it all, my Deloitte Divas, who are simply some of the most amazing people I have met and whose successes I am so proud of and who always open up their doors and make available their time when I am back in town, my SF roomies at the old 1788 Union Street who were like my little temp family, the Fluehgasse 7 boys, whom I would never have survived Zurich without and who have opened up their home several times during my homeless phases and could always make me feel better with a “Awww..Ri, Ri” and a big hug after a bad day as well as my neighbor in the crack house next door who offered up his lamp and allowed me to come over and use his couch and TV at 10:00pm so I didn’t have to stand over the sink in the dark to eat dinner alone as it took 2 months for the couch to get delivered. My close Swiss colleagues whom I will miss dearly, as well as those colleagues at the firm who went out of their way to welcome me into a sometimes uncomfortable environment.

I of course, will not forget the Malura family who opened up their home to a stranger while I was in Munich, my E&Y expat colleagues all over the world..whose unexpected sametime (instant messenger) popups always put a smile on my face when I was feeling down and for the good times at Oktoberfest…will see you same time same place next year!

Of course there are my abroad friends from Barcelona, the Altgasse Maedchen from Vienna, and most recently, my “chicas guapas roomies en Costa Rica” aka “old women of the group” whom I seem to meet up with all over the world.


Then there is my family, who regrettably live all over the country making it difficult to see them often, but when I am in town, it is like no time has passed in between.

Right now, I cannot thank enough however, everyone who has helped me on my transition to London, which has turned into a bit of a horrific ordeal, only further worsened as a lot of the blame was my fault due to mistakes I made processing the paperwork to get into the UK resulting in finding myself homeless, all of my belongings divided into several apartments (mainly Kevin and Dave’s cellar), and sleeping from floor to couch to futon to mattress on the floor (luxury-thanks Colm!), but worse, missing my friend’s wedding as I am literally stuck in Switzerland just waiting, unemployed for many weeks (which I have trouble enjoying).

To make it worse, the end is nowhere near as upon my arrival in London, I will have to start the whole process all over again. But I am extremely lucky, as I have a strong net of people who have even already offered their places and put up with me popping in and out already while interviewing and looking at some flats supporting me along the way.

But first, and foremost, it is my parents whom I most grateful for. As I am sure that while their preference would be to have me close nearby, they always still support and encourage me on my next adventure.

I often feel guilty having to rely so much as well as fall back on so frequently this net to catch me when I fall. While a net is there to support you, you still put pressure on it and disrupt it every time you do. And at the end of the day, the climb back up, you still need to make alone. And at this point, I am simply exhausted. Perhaps I need to find a stronger rope.

While it may not be possible to thank everyone as well as return the favor, the only way to truly say “Thank you” is to turn and catch the next person who is falling your way.