Being Home

The forests around Libby, Montana are on fire. Glacier National Park is on fire. California is on fire. A lot of places are on fire. Seems fitting somehow. When I left Montana a year ago today, actually a year ago yesterday, Montana was on fire. However, a lot of things are also different. Before I left, things were as they were. After I left, over the course of the year, four of my family members died, one that I didn't actually know, and a few family friends died, some of my friends had children, I don't think anyone got married, but I could be forgetting, and my Mom got cancer. So things are a little bit different around here. I have also returned to work at McDonald's since I've been back, and there are a few differences there too. I am glad to be home, but I also miss England, and I miss my UK YAGM cohort. I feel like my heart is in three pieces. One piece is here, another piece is in England, and the third is actually split into 10 smaller pieces, and is in various places around the country, with the friends who I was with in the United Kingdom this year. It's hard to sum up my year in just a few sentences. I have so many stories to tell, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of them. Total travel time to get home, including the drive to the airport in Manchester, flight time, waiting in airports, and the drive home, was 29 1/2 hours, and that's including a 10 1/2 hour flight from Munich, Germany, to Denver, CO. I actually got really sick after I got off the plane in Denver. Was not fun. Had fun killing 6 hours in the Denver airport though. I was ready to be home, but also not. It would just be nice to have everyone I love in one place. Now I am home, and sometimes I have been getting a lot of headaches and dealing with nausea. I think it's because of all the smoke in the air, so I'll just have to deal until the fires are out. Work is always interesting, gives me something to do and a reason to get up in the morning, and that is currently my life. I'm hoping that at least most of the UK YAGMs will get to reunite at our re-entry retreat in October, so that will be nice. I do miss England, but at the same time, I am glad to be home.