I had a Vietnam friend after the war, left off the top of the Embassy last minute, with family. He described it this way:
We packed what we could take in the car, looked around at our neighborhood, locked the door to our house... it was habit, really; we didn't ever expect to see the house again. We all got in the car and drove to the Embassy, left the keys in the car - maybe somebody could use it.We entered the Embassy grounds, waited our turn. Finally we boarded the chopper and as we lifted off we mentally waved goodbye to the country we never expected to see again, a life we would never see again.
The Obamas’ dog Bo died not long ago. Here is the dog comm announcing the death of the Portuguese Water Dog.
Both Obama’s have the sad news on their pages.