Annuitant John Kriesmer Receives Greetings From Around the Globe
- Community
- Announcements
- Births and Birthdays
Author: Cindy Kriesmer Carr
Released 21 May 2006
Some gifts are fairly easy to choose and a little bit harder to wrap. Such was the case with Dad's 80th birthday last week. It took an afternoon in March to decide what to do and then about 2 months to "wrap" it up. Thanks to the warm, very generous spirit of the entire Aramco ExPat community, the Kriesmer Family was able to present to Dad, John Kriesmer, a birthday present like he had never opened before.
But back to mid March. My sister Pam (DH '69), brother Larry (DH '78) and I had decided early on to organize a larger family gathering in June for Dad when all the grandchildren would be out of junior high and college classes and would be able to join us in San Diego, but what to do for the actual day itself - May 9th? What sort of gift would "fit" the occasion and somehow be meaningful?
For a daughter who loves to stay in touch with everyone she ever met in her life (that's a different story), a gift of letters and cards might just be the answer. Why not consider contacting everyone possible and have them all be a part of this lovely celebration? In fact, why not aim for eighty cards and emails for Dad's eightieth? And the idea was born that afternoon in March.
I started with one group letter to some of Dad's email buddies asking for their help in getting the word out and from there, all sorts of responses began to stream in. Perhaps the most important one came in immediately from Bob Waters in Las Vegas, who composed his happy birthday wishes to Dad along with the suggestion that I contact the Aramco ExPats web site. He was absolutely right for as soon as I contacted Aramco ExPats, a plan was quickly put together for the gathering of the paper gifts from all over the world.
The first two cards arrived on the same day that first week, one from Mike Ameen and the other from Tim Barger. From then on, it was a steady flow of emails and cards that continued to come to our home for the next 8 weeks, many postmarked with the precious, out of print EID Greetings stamps. Not a word was shared with Mom, which was a real challenge for this particular daughter! There were days when so many cards were delivered that I had to quickly separate them from the bulk mail, stuff them into the expanding file drawer with "Dad's 80th Birthday" written on the tab and get out the door to meet the folks somewhere.
Meanwhile, back on the laptop, emails were also showing up daily. Some came from complete strangers at Aramco who just wanted to be a part of this "terrific idea" and others came from cherished old friends who wrote such profound best wishes that it brought tears to my eyes.
Something wonderful was happening and I could sense it with each greeting. People were reaching out to be a part of something positive and uplifting, something warm and global, a great global inner warming in fact. Greetings came in from Al-Khobar to Kuwait, from Warsaw to Walnut Creek, from Dammam to Denver and from London to Las Vegas. Friends of friends even wrote their best wishes, so pleased to be able to share in this milestone of one Aramco family.
Did we reach our goal of 80 cards and letters by Dad's 80th last week?
Thanks to the enthusiastic response from everyone who read the ExPat posting and answered the call for cards, Dad has finally finished opening and reading all ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE cards and emails that we presented to him last week in two parts ~ the emails in a lovely engraved leather album and the cards in a beautifully wrapped box of the world. As he and I sit together at the kitchen table here in Cardiff by the Sea, California, exactly a week later, we count not only the final tally of birthday greetings that came in but the many blessings this family has received from around the world. Dad's arrival in Ras Tanura in 1949 as a young lubrication engineer on a 2 year contract could never have predicted meeting Mom, Joyce Haug, in Abqaiq in 1950, marrying her in Bahrain in 1951 and spending 32 years in a career that covered such varied posts as Abqaiq Engineering, Plants and Pipelines; Abqaiq Transportation; Dhahran Transportation; Ras Tanura Marine Division Relief and finally Manager of Community Services.
Thank you everyone for making this such a great gift to unwrap. Your cards and good wishes will have us reminiscing (and Dad writing thank you notes) long after the candles have been blown out on this major event in the Kriesmer Family. Dad would like to extend a special thank you to the many Saudi colleagues who were able to share their fond memories of those early days together and now, these many years later, for their lasting friendships.
Fondly,
Cindy Kriesmer Carr (DH '67)