My Year in Review (2008)

Finally got rid of the MySpace page and this is the last Year in Review from there!

My Year in Review (2008):

This was probably one of the hardest years of my life. That puts it right up there with the year I was in Iraq. I am not gonna write about specifics because to miss any of it would be to detract from the value of everything I've accepted. Amazingly enough, this time last year I was writing about how if I wasn't home in Baltimore then I wanted to stay in El Paso. After everything that happened, I am very happy to be home. That's not to write off any of the friends I've made or bonds I've forged. Quite honestly some of the guys who stood by me when I needed it didn't have to, and that's really why I got my Cavalry tattoo. It was a tribute to good men who helped me when I needed it.
I've found that you really don't know how much you can go through until you're in a situation where you have no choice but to trudge on. There's actually an amazing sort of relief that comes with that realization however; To know that the bridge you just crossed has collapsed and there is no where to go but forward. This past year it was that thought alone that pushed me to be so calm, cool, and collected to the point where I was able to do the things that needed to be done and set myself up for an amazing start to a life that seems to be just over the horizon.
Just this past year I've gone from being a ground-pounding Cavalry Scout to a Civilian who works with the Military. It's a shift that continues to change me as a person. After six years of alerts, deployments, annual training dates, and active federal service- looking at it from the outside makes me miss the burdens yet sense of pride you feel when you put your life up for something more important than you.
My sense of purpose now revolves more around my Son than anything else which actually makes me strangely happy. For as long as I can remember it's been "purpose" in my life that has brought me the most grief, yet it was done on a totally self-inflicted level where I knew what came with my commitments. The pain was almost an addiction until recently. Even the first few months home I was a bit angry at everything, but in ruining something that obviously wasn't ment to be- I've settled and am happy where I am- and where I am heading. This year is my year to define myself to the world. I am getting things done and by this time next year I have a feeling I'll be a much different person. For the first time in a long time I am beginning this year with it's fate in my hands and no one else.
Whatever it takes.
Happy New Year everyone.

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty." - John F. Kennedy, Jr.