Sil and I remember the times we shared with
Roger and Lorraine in Istanbul very well indeed. The weekends at Ortakoy have
stayed with us unlike any other memories we can think of and are among the
happiest and best memories we took away from Turkey. There is a Merçan Dede CD
which we woke up to on the floor of their apartment a few times. It instantly
takes us back to that moment, every time we play it. Happy days because of our
own developing relationship, and because of the quality and warmth of their company.
The lack of bullshit, Lorraine’s unpredictable sense of humour, and the piles
of fresh börek that Roger brought back for breakfast every Sunday morning.
Roger was always so present, so aware. He was hilarious too, although he hid
his humour behind the façade of a calm, measured, serious, semi-retired white
guy. You could see it in his eyes though, if he thought you weren’t looking.
We loved the way Roger made Lorraine
the centre of his universe – although it was hard to really work out who
revolved around who, at times.
We have talked about you both so many
times. We can’t tell you how much we missed your company after leaving Turkey.
We tried to think of a reason or a date when we could fly to Canada to see you
– but it has, sadly, been too difficult. The chats on Skype have been great
though and we remember fondly the last chat Roger had with our 3 year old-Finn-
making comments about the train engines that Finn was showing him through the
webcam.
Respect, Roger, for being the man you
were.
Lorraine - Kia Kaha (stand strong).
Much love,
Silvana and Mike
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