Ok, so I returned from my cross-country trip home for Thanksgiving safe and sound. This was definitely my best trip home since joining the Army. All my other trips have had agendas. First was my brother’s wedding, then planning for my wedding and then my wedding. This time, there was no agenda, nothing I had to do. I was able to just relax and visit.

While in New York, I got to see a ton of people. My first night there I got to see all my close friends from college, which was just amazing. It’s crazy how much things have stayed the same in the five years I’ve known these people. And how much things have changed. The best part of the whole night was how we all just fell right back into the usual banter and rapport we’ve always had, even though some of these people I hadn’t seen in three years.

My parents also hosted a big dinner for family and friends, which was wonderful. It was just like before, when we would have a dinner at the house and all the men would be in the living room watching a race and talking about hunting and all the women would be in the dining room gossiping and drinking wine. I’ve missed those nights.

And on top of it all, even though I had to leave Thanksgiving Day, I still had a great dinner with the best turkey ever. We just had to eat at noon so I could catch my plane on time.

All in all, it was a great trip and even though I froze my ass off while I was there, I’m really glad I went. And I can’t wait to go home again.