The Foreign Service Journal, October 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2018 45 And finally, as Lisa remembers: “As we were landing in New Orleans, I talked to the head flight attendant to make sure I could get off the plane first to meet Jess’ family on the tarmac. He was a retired Army veteran and he asked, ‘Who are you bringing home?’ I told him about Jess, and about her daughter; he had tears in his eyes as we talked. I met Jess’ family on the tarmac, and the first person I saw was her mother. She walked over to me and gave me a big hug. The only words that came out of my mouth were, ‘I’m so sorry. I loved her so much.’ As we watched her coffin come off the plane, I noticed that the flight attendant had joined us. He was standing at attention and saluting.” Lisa’s Facebook post read: “She’s home.” A Somber, Joyous Celebration Those who could flew, carpooled, bused and trained their way to St. Francisville, Louisiana, in early April for a somber, loud, joyous and sorrowful celebration of Jessica’s life. Her favorite songs played loudly. People toasted her with plant- garnished cocktails and shared their many stories of Jessica as a red-headed handful in school, as an exchange student in Ire- land, as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania, as a dedicated and fun-loving mother, as a friend and as a Foreign Service offi- cer. As the sun settled into the horizon, her friends and families launched dream lanterns into the starry night sky, each one representing the many good memories. At Embassy Rangoon friends and colleagues looked to the sunny sky, thought of Jes- sica and created a sundial in the garden to mark the light she left in many lives. Nomads call many places home. Jessica’s family shared her ashes with her many wandering friends, with the request that they leave some in the places she loved best. Jessica now swims in the clear waters of the French Caribbean. She smiles from the tallest limbs of a North Carolina pine tree. She waits on the banks of the Nile. She dances on the westernmost point of Africa. She applauds at Madison Square Garden. She is remembered at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon and in the embassy garden there whenever the sun shines. Her parents left her along every beach in California and at the Sea of Cortez. Most important, Jes- sica basks in the Louisiana heat, watching her daughter flower into a young woman. Life in the Foreign Service can seem lonely, and our lives can feel remote from those we love most. Jessica reminds us that the communities of friends we build along the way are family, too. We have room in our hearts, and in our lives, for all and then some. n