Willkommen bei Adobe GoLive 6

As most of you know, 2007 has been a tough year for me - my father lost the fight against his cancer and died July 16th. First, I spent half of last year praying for the improbable and trying to prepare for the inevitable (conclusion: you are never prepared for a parent's death), then I spent the second half of last year trying to cope with the fact that my faith did not help. At least, I was at home when he died. The whole family was present and he passed away peacefully and with a smile. Nevertheless, it was a shock and to be perfectly honest, I think I am still traumatized by the experience.

Having said this, last year also held some positive events: I had quite a few friends visiting me in Basel and always enjoy their company. My best friend Bianca got married in a picture perfect ceremony in Munich and my godson Jonathan was baptized. Both were the last "family events" my father still attended before he died. I finally started to take up Flamenco again (in addition to my Oriental Dance) but had to skip the choir for that. Other than that, my leisure time is still filled with spiritual seminars and lots of shows and entertainment. My absolute highlight last year was the Barbra Streisand concert in Zurich. Those of you who know me well, understand what it meant to me. And for the rest of you, just know that this was a "once in a lifetime" occasion for me. Thank you Seb and Katja for alerting me to the European part of her tour!

Jobwise, I am still very happy at Novartis. In July I finally managed to step away from recruitment - my professional direction over the past 6 years - and was appointed Leadership Development Manager in our Global Talent Management Department. In this role, I support the design, organization and facilitation of training programmes for our top executives worldwide. This is an area I've been wanting to get into for a long time and I am very pleased that it finally worked out!

Of course, my life would not be complete without an intensive travel agenda... Given my family situation, I went home to Helgoland quite a few times last year, plus three trips to the US. In addition, Aaron and I went on a short vacation in Northern Italy, including Venice, and the South of France (some of you know that 'Provence' is the only place I can imagine to live when I retire!) and I also spent a long weekend in Florence to visit my friend Tiia. In total, I boarded planes 29 times last year - quite a number! Add minimum 10 long-distance train trips and that gives you an idea about my way of life!

Maybe the extensive travelling and everything else that happened in 2007 is starting to take its toll. I have not been very well for the last couple of months and my doctor has diagnosed the beginning of a burn-out syndrom. Trust me, this is not a good place to be! Physically, I am very weak and feel constantly exhausted. Emotionally it has been a rough ride in the past few months and now I even have trouble managing my normal everyday life. As a result of the way I feel, I try to spend more down-time on my own and started to cancel out on a number of leisure activities, which I will continue to do for at least a couple of more months. This may explain why some of you have tried to reach me in the past weeks but were unsuccessful. I apologize for that and promise that I will be back in touch when I am ready.

Before closing I would like to thank all of you who helped me to get through one of the most difficult periods of my life last year. I never knew what an impact it can have to lose a parent and the compassion and support me and my family received when my father died, was overwhelming. But even before he passed away, I know that many of you have thought of him and sent your love and prayers. Even if we could not prevent what we cannot comprehend, I am convinced that your energy has helped to keep him alive for so long and to make his illness bearable. This is a big comfort to us.

On a more positive note I wish you all a happy New Year, filled with health, love and happiness for you and your loved ones. And I look forward to seeing many of you again soon!

Take good care of yourselves,

Martina


		MARTINA'S WORLD LATEST NEWS FRESH FROM SWITZERLAND

					*Your Dictionary* *(Übersetzungshilfe)*