Tomorrow will be one month since I deployed to Iraq – for the second time.
I was sitting in front of the EMS shop a couple days ago and it occurred to me that, while this place has changed significantly in a physical sense, it doesn’t feel like I ever left. Something has changed in me – something I can’t place my finger on. When I’m in the “real world,” I feel like a stranger. I hate to admit it to myself, but I haven’t felt as alive as I do when I’m in Iraq. Sure, I miss my family and there are things (like dodging mortars and the heat) that I could live without, but in the end I feel like I truly fit here.
Gary Tappendick is my roommate. He’s a good guy, and I know we’ll get along well. He doesn’t feel the need to fill up the empty spaces with stupid conversation that doesn’t mean anything. Not that I’m against “small talk,” but I hate having to listen to people babble on about nothing, just because they can’t stand silence.
I’m remembering Joe Pray. God, I miss him. How long has is been since I talked to, much less saw, him? More than a decade? I wonder what he’s doing now? Is he sober? Is he still in NC? Will I ever see him again? I pray he is safe and happy. I pray his heart has healed from whatever wounds were there. I pray that, when he thinks back on our years of friendship, he smiles. God, I miss him. Keep him safe.
Tags: Gary Tappendick, Iraq, Joe Pray, Mosul, Operation Iraqi Freedom, US Army