A Day of Friendship

Yesterday, Joan came into the Frankfurt Airport in the morning. You should have seen the boys when we made it back to the hotel. They were soooo excited to see their Joni. Isaac kept saying (and then Elijah would repeat), "Joni, you are here!" Then he'd give her a big hug. They were just both so excited to have Joni here with them in the flesh.

Then, around 7pm, I received a call. JB and the rotator had arrived from Turkey! As I hugged JB outside the hotel, he told me that I had some other friends inside the lobby. Sure enough my friend Emily and her three kiddos as well as Tina and her husband and five kiddos were fresh off the rotator as well. How wonderful to connect with some familiar faces from our home in Turkey.

Germany is a popular vacation spot for those of us living in Turkey as we can take the rotator over for free. Tina and her family will be spending a week here. Emily and her family are hoping to catch another rotator back to the U.S. I, am hoping to go home by August 1. That's my current goal. :)

When we got back to our hotel, JB put a DVD in for me. Apparently some of my friends back at Incirlik decided to make me a little video. Suddenly there were familiar faces jumping up on the screen saying "hello" and "I miss you" to me and the boys and Veronica. How wonderful! By the time the song, You've Got a Friend in Me started playing and Scrubbs began prancing across the screen, I was full-out crying.

I've really been feeling like I am missing something lately. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I have my boys here. And JB is back and forth enough. Why did I feel so, sad? So lonely? I realized that what was missing was my friends in Turkey. They are my family right now. And I miss them. The last few weeks in Germany, I realized that I was feeling a little ... lost. Where do I belong? I don't belong in the U.S., and I don't belong in Germany.

Where do I belong?

I belong in Turkey. That's home right now. And I was reminded when watching that video, that I have a support system to go back to there. What a wonderful feeling.

Thank you to my friends for reminding me that I am wanted and loved and appreciated back home in Turkey. I can't wait to get back to them with my three little kiddos in tow.

And I can't wait to hug Scrubby!