Home Sweet Home

I've been back home now for 5 days.  The trip home was a bit of an adventure - an earlier than expected departure, a missed flight, worries of deportation (that sounds a bit more dramatic than it actually was, but trust me, I'm not creative enough to make that up), a side trip to Iraq - the bottom line is I made it safe and sound.  I can now add several new countries to the list of places I've been in the world - Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Cyprus, Italy, and Germany.  The picture was the view from my accommodations in Kuwait (I stayed in the trailer just at the left edge of the picture, not the tents in the foreground).  The picture was taken in the middle of the afternoon while the winds were howling and the dust was flying - you can barely make out the sun.

My portal of entry into the US was through Baltimore.  We received a warm welcome from Operation Welcome Home - Maryland.  There was a line of people who shook our hands and thanked us for our service; there were goodie bags complete with cards signed by the local Cub Scout troops; and there were folks making sure we had arrangements for the next leg of our journeys home.  (The organization posts pictures on line:  www.owhmd.org.  I came through on May 13th on the second flight and I was one of the last people to get my luggage, so I'm one of the last pictures.)

I have several relatives around Baltimore, so I was lucky enough to also have family meet me at the airport.  My parents were down from Long Island and we all spent the night at my oldest sister's house.  My travel schedule allowed us time to have breakfast the next morning with my aunt (group picture).  It was really great having a layover where I could be with family.

On my arrival back to San Antonio, I was met at the airport by my husband, Greg, and our yellow lab, Cassie - a much anticipated moment after a long journey.  I was finally home.

Prior to my return home, I'd heard people talk of needing time to adjust to life back home and needing to re-acclimate.  And, like a typical surgeon, I just assumed that was for other people, that I would return home and just pick up where I left off.  But, the reality is when I left, the world did not stop spinning.  Life here carried on and time moved forward (and somewhere along the way we ended up with another cat).  And, at the same time, I also moved forward, albeit in a different location and in a different direction.  When it's all said and done, I will be back home and back at work doing what I did before I left, but there is a small piece of me that will be forever changed by my experience.  And, in some way, I hope that I have effected a reciprocal change in those I encountered while I was gone.

Well, I think that brings Poppies and Parasites - My First Trip to Afghanistan to a close.  Many thanks to all who have followed along - your support, prayers,

letters, email, care packages, etc. truly made all the difference.  I wish I could say this was the end of being deployed for me, but unless this crazy world we live in changes, I anticipated the Second Trip Edition to come out in about two years.  Stay tuned...