Deployment Update the Final, Week 43
Comments: 0 - Date: March 16th, 2009 - Categories: Deployment
I have to lead off this update with the big news, the word we’ve all been waiting for. Some of you already know, and probably most of you could guess: I’m home.
In keep with the previous week’s theme, things continued to move very quickly. Some of it was due to my own effort, but there was a certain amount of luck involved, and more than a little help from others. I managed to finish the NMPS process in one day. The way everything lined up was fortuitous, and at a few stops (such as the ID card office—notorious for incredibly long wait times), let demobilizing reservists move to the front of the line.
I briefly considered driving home Monday night, but decided not to for a variety of reasons: I still had to pack, I didn’t really want to drive in the dark, wouldn’t get home until midnight, etc. Besides, I’d been down there for 164 days, so one more night wouldn’t kill me. I got up around 5:30 Tuesday morning and left a little after 6; home in time for lunch.
Thursday I had to travel to my NOSC (Navy Operational Support Center). They were surprisingly helpful (my past dealings with the NOSC were less than stellar). Because of the upcoming annual Physical Health Assessment, I have to travel back down there at the beginning of April to get that taken care of. It’s a hassle, but mostly just bad timing. Still, I like to consider it one last F.U. from the Navy before they let me demobe. Otherwise things are pretty much done. All over but the—as they say—shouting.
And with that, my story comes to a close. It marks the end of a very unique and challenging chapter of my life. I have to thank everyone reading this for your ongoing support—both when things were going well, and when they turned for the worse. Many were the times when I was in pain or depressed (or more frequently, both), and received incredibly uplifting emails or IMs or comments. To anyone who sent one, even a single one, it meant more than you can imagine.
Now I’m ready to move on. I’m already making plans to go back to work and starting to reconnect with my real-life friends, and the memories of having a broken leg are fading fast. It rarely hurts, but I can always feel the hardware. It can be uncomfortable, the way a stone in your shoe is uncomfortable. It doesn’t hurt, necessarily, but it can be annoying and distracting. I suppose that will be an everlasting reminder, but it’s not one on which I’d like to focus.
Naturally this will be my final deployment update. I’ve gotten a lot of comments from people saying they appreciate the updates. (My email list had grown to over sixty people by the end.) So of course this isn’t ‘goodbye’. It’s more like a ‘hello’.
Hello, I’m back. Let’s continue where we left off.
-Ted