Please accept my condolences...

One of the responsibilities of a consular officer is to be the bearer of bad, and often time devastating news.

An American citizen dies in Laos, and it is our job to find and notify the next of kin, and help to facilitate the 'disposition' of the deceased's remains. It's probably the worst part of this job, if only because you are a stranger calling someone halfway around the world to completely shatter their world.

How do you get used to telling someone, someone you’ve never met, someone you probably woke from a deep sleep because there is an anywhere from 11 to 14 hour time difference, that their son, father, husband, sister, mother, daughter has died? Especially as there are options that need to be discussed and decisions made as soon as possible. Especially in a country like Laos, which given its limited resources, necessitates quicker decisions by the family. Especially when the deceased was too young for it not to be a total shock to the family.

Of course, the difficulty I feel does not compare in the least to what the people on the other end of the phone go through, and you tell yourself that by being here and working with the family to implement their wishes regarding the deceased you are providing an invaluable service to the family at a very difficult time, but it is still emotionally, and physically, draining.

So very tired.