EAGLE VS. STOKES

It had been 17 years since-I now hold 34 years, doing the simple math-a half life since the last time in the chair. I was Seventeen years old walking down a side street in Osaka, Japan two days before my return to the States. After a long stint away from my family, friends, and a life that was left in pieces. During my time in Japan I put myself back together the best I could emotionally-Isolated without the language I formed unlikely friendships. Communicating with hand gestures, sports, and drawings resembling that of a six year old. I began drawing the same figure in the second grade and have never adjusted it regardless of circumstances see below regardless of this somewhat difficult yet magical time my hair began to exit my dome (note this hair was blonde and luxurious) at a pace similar to the evacuation at Saigon. To realize this at this age was traumatizing to say the least of it. Laying on my bamboo floor every eve running my hand h

Any decision of note in life is to involve doubt and with doubt comes risk and with risk reward and repercussion. The further I go in this process the clearer I see these things….I walked away from an above average salary and an above average lifestyle for one fraught with frustration and elation. Some would call that an even trade- I would state life without extremes as sleepwalking…frustration and elation average out to normal but within the average you never experience the highs and lows I believe we are intended for. I cannot describe the feeling of growing close with a group of strangers who I now consider family in many ways, I cannot describe the embrace of a member of my community after returning from an absence, and I can certainly not describe sitting around a town square with my fellow volunteers and our Peruvian friends sharing drinks and life as it comes to us. I have always held tight to the idea of one time around…and more and more I feel the sentiment within t