The End is Near

Not that "end"....as in the end of the mayan calendar.  The end I mean is the end of this deployment.  Sometime in the next 24 hours, I will be leaving Kuwait and returning to the US again.  Although it has only been 8 months or so, this deployment seems to have been so much longer.  Including mobilization time and end of tour leave it will be about a year.  So much has happened the last year.  I have lost a relationship and my beloved dog Elvis.  But many good things have happened as well.  I lost a lot of weight, got promoted, and met so many very good friends along the way.  I am excited about going home.  My good friends at home have gone out of their way to make sure my return is easier this time than last time.  They have cleaned up the old house and bought me a car (well with my money...lol).  Another friend has taken care of Willow, who I hope still remembers me.  It is odd going home single, but I guess the hunt to meet the "one" goes on for now.  My job as director of veterans services at the Albany Housing Coalition will resume shortly.  I have been told I have been missed there.  There was a lot of uncertainty when I got back from Iraq.  And even now there is a little fear and a good share of anxiety about how I will adjust.  But I do know that I am excited about getting back there.  I have much work to do and I hope I get a chance to do it for a long time.  There is meaning and purpose in my life.  There is a lot of love in my life.  I have never felt better than I do right now about the direction of my life.  God willing, I am going home in a few hours.  I have missed you America.  See you soon.