Pamela

I have a nice story about our Rotary meeting in Bangkok.

Khanitha, out ITHF contact here, met us in the lobby of our hotel about an hour before the Rotary meeting began and since it was just 1 km down the road, we had time for a drink and a visit. She was wearing some beautiful jewellery in Swarovski crystal which, it turns out, she makes herself. She has a small crystal business which she started after she retired from Thai Airlines. One of the pieces she wore was a beautiful red crystal dragonfly pendant. As we talked about her jewellery and the things I've learend about Thailand, such as that my birthday colour is red, she said she would make me a gift of the dragonfly. She named the dragonfly Pamela, and this is her story.

You can't see it well here, but Khanitha in blue to the left of me, is wearing the dragonfly.

Pamela was a flight attendant for many years at Thai Airlines, a woman as beautiful inside as out. In between flights she volunteered her time generously with a service organization which endeared her all the more to her colleagues. Unfortunately, Pamela became seriously ill. She returned to her home in Taiwan for treatment, but after 3 months of treatment it became apparent she wouldn't recover and she succumbed.

Khanitha didn't know Pamela personally but at Pamela's memorial service, her mother gave dragonflies to her many friends as a memento of her daughter and her love of flying. Khanitha decided to replicate this memorial in crystal and has sold many of them to Pamela's friends and colleagues on Thai Airlines. She donates10% of the sales to the service organization to which Pamela belonged, in Pamela's name. In this way, Pamela will not be forgotten and her symbol, the dragonfly, continues to fly around the world in her spirit.

This is Pamela