Four days before it is time to leave...

I submitted my Fulbright application just about 1 year ago. Typically you don’t hear until January or so if you make final consideration, but I found that I made it past the first round already in early November. While final notification may not occur until May, I received acceptance in early February. A dream may be realized, but also many emotions and other things to deal with. First is family. How will this be received? It is easy to think about something like this as an idea, but it is something much different when it actually is going to happen.

 The time between February and now (July) were this strange state of knowing Fulbright Day will come, but it was still off in the distance and I didn’t really think about it that much. It wasn’t until I actually made travel arrangements and found an apartment in June that it started to sink in. The past few days have been spent camping on Lake Michigan with my youngest, who will stay in Michigan with my wife and other son (who got a taste of Europe for a few weeks last summer). My daughter, who finished her Spanish minor and spent 6 weeks in Costa Rica last summer, will be traveling with me. I’m sitting on the beach of Lake Michigan, where it is about 68 degrees and a nice cool breeze. And I’m nervous for the first time. All of a sudden everything is a list of lasts...the last time I'm going to go swimming in Lake Michigan until next year, the last camping trip, and soon enough the last time I'll see my wife and sons for three months...

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