Leaving on a Jet Plane - Elvis has left the Country

By the time most of you will read this, I will no longer be in the United States. Sometime in the next few hours I will be on a plane heading overseas. It will be the first time in my life that I have left this country except for trips to Canada and Mexico. I am both excited about this and a little nervous. I can't tell you when I will be back...or even if...I ever will come back. But its my goal. I really know how much I will be missed and I have promised everyone of you I would come back safe. But...just to cover my bases....I want to tell you how I feel at this moment. I have had so much to thankful for. I am healthy, I have a great family, and so many friends. Now I have my T...the love who waits for me. I just want you all to know how much I love you all. A man who has friends and a loving family...well he's got everything. I feel happier and more content then I have ever felt in my life. Its because of you. Each of you. Now I know you all think I am a little messed up in the head for doing this...and somedays even I think thats so...I have no regrets. However this ends...I know that I have made the right decision. When I was growing up, I got use to taking the easy road. All through my first tour in the army and through college, I never applied myself the way I should have. I was selfish and inconsiderate. But somewhere along the way, I started to change. Pehaps that was when I began working with people with HIV/AIDS. There I was taught and shown compassion. I started to realize that each person on this planet has purpose and meaning. Each life is precious...each person a gift from god. What I am doing is trying to use my gifts to bring a little ray of light to an area of the world that needs it right now. I want to do two main things:

Support my fellow soldiers.

Learn about and appreciate the Iraqi people.

Some people do not think its possible to do both...but I know I can do it. Not sure how I will go about doing this, but hell...I got to try. I hope I can show both groups my sense of humor...my appreciation for diversity...and my compassion. I hope that I can make friends...as dear to me as all of you have been. I know if I get the chance...I will succeed. Or die trying.

Good bye all. I love you all.