Insert cliche title about going home here
In a few short and at the same time very long days I will be voyaging home for the first time in over a year. With mixed emotions about my first half of my service behind me I cannot swim against the current of being slightly reflective and sentimental looking back at the last time I was home and for all that I have experienced here. As I pack my now relatively tattered wardrobe into my suitcase and glance through photos of my family and friends I am not only feeling anticipatory but nervous, anxious, and grateful all the while. I stare back at the twelveplus months behind me and see a roller coaster, but who of us who has ridden the coaster has not enjoyed it although terrorized at times during the ride. We may pledge not to ever do it again but somewhere, at some time in our minds there are fond memories. For me the ride continues to improve. We are the blessed, those away from our homes and feeling like we are now at home at the same time. I can not wait to see