Kathy's Connection
FAMILY WAS THE FOCUS OF CAREER FACILITATOR THIS WEEK

The phone rang early this week. At the other end of the phone was my daughter, Kara, who lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. She said "Mom, Dominique and I have some news for you. We have set the wedding date and are getting married in St. Martin in the Caribbean on May 4th."

There was cheers on my end for not only is Dominique a fine man who will be an outstanding son-in-law, he loves Kara to his toes--a dream for any mother. I could tell by the tone of their voices that they were both thrilled.

They chose St. Martin because it is half-way between Belgium and where we live. In addition, since Dominique's family speaks French and we speak only English, we are going to an island that has both--smart thinking on their parts.

In nothing flat, Kara and I got into our planning mode. Do we really need formal invitations when we are spread out all all over the world? We came to the conclusion no--besides return cards are impractical considering the distances involved. Yes, even I was thrilled technology has come into full use here.

Yes, I am thrilled the wedding is there. I lived in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands for four years --some of the happiest years of my life. Can't wait to be dancing to steel drum music again!!

<BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TIP:
On excellent source for inexpensive overseas calls is Net2phone. I discovered it over four years ago. You deposit an amount into your Net2phone account and then dial an access number. It has never failed me and it automatically refills (charged to my credit card) when I get near an $0 balance.