This Christmas was amazing. Having my husband, family, and friends in the same place at the same time makes me absolutely giddy. Often, when I return to my hometown, it's to find comfort and support during the long months of the deployments, but when I get to take that trip with husband in hand, I am reminded of everything I have to be grateful for.
There were moments during our three weeks back in North America where I simply felt overwelmed with emotion. I would close my eyes and listen to the voices of the people I love, the inevitable noise and bustle of a full house. It's easy, when you have your family and friends within reachable distance, to forget how important they are to you. To take for granted the dinners and lunches, and small talk over tea. I have the unique perspective, after living away from my home for almost seven years now, to see what a blessing it is to have everyone in one place. To see them laughing and talking. To sit back and take it all in, precisely because it is not something I get all that often.
I did not, of course, have everyone I wanted together at once. They are in different places, on different continents, spending time with their own families. I know that I may never have everyone in the same place at the same time, but I am so grateful when I get a few together and have C. with me.
When we got back to Germany, it hit us both quite hard. Although we have met some incredible people here, and have had some amazing adventures in our first year and a half, it does not come without it's cost. Three little nephews are growing and changing so rapidly now. We are missing out on the day to day in the lives of those we love. And although the distance has not affected the most important relationships in our lives (we seem to pick up precisely where we left off, no matter how much time has passed), it does make the quiet of our home seem to speak so much more loudly than before.
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