January 18th, the Seahawks won an unbelievable championship game that included a $5 bet between my husband and I about a certain first down. That spectacular ending made the Seahawks represent for me that Galaxy Quest sentiment... Never Give Up, Never Surrender. Why should I feel like giving up? Because I realized that I'm not really home yet. I've been longing for home since 2011. Coming back from deployment has crystallized this in my mind. I may have had a couple break-downs these first few months this year, but Mike has been there (on the phone) through them all. Actually, I feel like writing everything down today (it's May 2nd) because I have been going through it these last couple days. And I already feel a little better, looking back at everything.
On the 19th, I visited the Norfolk Botanical Garden for the first time, walked around for a few hours and sat down every now and then to read one of my Christmas presents from Mike, A Higher Call. It was a gorgeous day... and there's a Facebook album. This book actually led me to discover the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach (really near me). I decided to drive out there January 25th, and was absolutely wow'd by everything. They had four separate hangers full of WWI - WWII aircraft, all privately owned.
And then my heart nearly exploded when I received a box of books and a card from a wonderful lady on Jan. 21. I am not used to being able to communicate with my favorite authors; this is because I mostly love reading history and classics. C.S. Lewis, Beatrix Potter, Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë can't write back. So finding such a deep connection with a real, live, living person through reading four of her books and everything she had said so openly online was quite shocking and wonderful. And she turned out to be incredibly friendly. Finished reading The Sunbird on the 27th (it was in the box), and anticipated finishing the other two before her next came out on my brother's birthday (two months away). We had been emailing since my dad's birthday in December... the strange timing! and nine days beforehand she invited me to meet her at a book-signing in April.
Oh, I just looked back at Twitter, and on the 24th, I went to the symphony to see Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony (1829) with Navy friends at Regent University. And on the 25th I watched the film The Silence of the Sea from 1949. And on the 26th I watched The Book Thief. WWII, every time, all the time. Loved them. Now that I think of it, it was the first few weeks of February that the new season of Foyle's War came out on acorn.tv. So I watched them all and was amazed, like usual. Especially the last episode about SOE stuff.
On the 27th, I shared this photo that I took outside my temporary Apartment complex
by Greenbrier Mall - on December 24! Don't know why I waited a month to
share it, but whatev's. My Jr. High band director paid me a huge
compliment by becoming the first person to buy a picture from me, he
liked it so much. On the 31st, I got a last minute ticket to see Beethoven's Ode to Joy at the symphony downtown and they started with William's Fantasia (from Master and Commander) and it caught me off guard. Had to dry my eyes in the restroom during intermission. It is etched in my mind with the movie... when they lose one of their crew at sea during the storm.
February. I started following Corrie Ten Boom (on facebook) on the 5th. The first wonderful post I saw:
“I’ve experienced His presence in the deepest darkest hell that men can create. I have tested the promises of the Bible, and believe me, you can count on them. I know that Jesus Christ can live in you, in me, through His Holy Spirit. You can talk with Him; you can talk with Him out loud or in your heart when you are alone, as I was alone in solitary confinement. The joy is that He hears each word.” -Corrie ten Boom "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord." -Psalm 31:24
I think I needed to hear this again this morning. (I say morning and it's 2pm... slept in till noon today)
On Feb 6th, I had a wonderful sushi and wine date with my two Sonar Girls from the ship. Got to visit a new house and meet a new dog!
Feb 11th I watched the film Ragamuffin on Netflix and the Lord used it to tell me he loved me and I didn't need to have a complex about not being best friends with anyone besides my husband. (Okay, that hurt to write down.) And I gave it over to him for the first time. I've taken it back a few times since, but I'm trying to let go.
Next day, more tears. Like I said... it's been wild this year. Women Warriors of WWII.
Then I checked out the neat independent bookstore in downtown Norfolk... Prince Books. Ordered one of Jasper Fford's and bought King Ottokar's Scepter for the fun of it. Also found a WWII Reader's Digest book that had this incredible POW's poem in it:
"When twilight calls and silence calls To evening prayer. Fair forms and hover near About my chair. Soft hands entwine themselves in mine. Lips touch my face; Then miles are not and time's forgot, As souls embrace."
On the 16th, I visited the Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preservation in Portsmouth that I had found out about at a symphony concert before deployment. Another Facebook photo album and absolute joy in a walk in the woods.
There had been a lot of snow and freezing temperatures throughout Feb. & Mar. On the 19th, with everything caked in snow, I went back downtown to pick up my book and greatly enjoyed starting it at a restaurant on the waterfront... crab salad and coffee!
Also, either that night or the night before I had a wonderful time hanging out with a few of the women from church. I had joined a small group at the very end of 2014, meeting a mutual friend of Kristin's. And I hit it off with them immediately. It was a gift from the Lord.
Not sure exactly when, but I spent a great deal of time the first part of March helping out my friends Kristin and Dan who were moving away to Utah mid-month. I found out when I came back from liberty on December 2nd. K & D have been the ONLY people I knew here in Virginia since moving here in the summer of 2012. They were home base. I had my first sangria with Kristin on her deck a couple weeks after moving. We watched John Adams together. And later on, Arn the Templar Knight as well. They were my only refuge here, away from the Navy for two years. I was at their house when they brought their adopted baby Sawyer home on Christmas Eve. One of the first people on earth to hold him. :) So it was difficult to let them go. I painted the railings on their deck and helped them pack. I also took care of their dog and their chickens whenever they needed me to. I loved house-sitting for them. It is so quiet out in the country.
Jw
