A journey ends as another begins.

said my goodbyes to everyone. someone unexpected cried (b/c i guess you never really know who notices you). packed up and headed to the airport: me and shiv, dharmesh, arch and Lakshmi, shiv's kids. boarded plane. laughed, cried and remembered the everythings over the past 15 months. fell asleep on Shiv on the flight to mumbai. bought expensive mumbai airport earrings b/c we could. hugged shiv, who has been my rock this year, goodbye. boarded flight to Frankfort, passed out. woke up sad: it finally hit that shiv and me, the journeys we've taken together for so long, have finally split ways. the woman next to me on the flight was from milano. practiced my italian- still on point- this cheered me up. baggage claim took an hour. I finally left the gate... hoping my mom remembered my flight number - i hadn't talked to her in over a week. scanned the sea of faces for someone familiar- no one. a few seconds go by... and then i hear my name, being screamed, on the other side of the partition. a good deal of my family is there... over 15 people. (I am glad that airport security is ok with this.) Next thing i know, there are balloons tied to me, flowers, a welcome home sign complete with old pictures of me when i had an 80's haircut (although, in my defense, it was the 80's back then). A tornado of hugs; I am loved. I am home.

It's great to be back.