“How do you pick up the threads of your old life? How do you go on? With a new heart you begin to understand there is no going back.”

-Frodo Baggins, “The Lord of the Rings”

This is it. The race is over. Eleven months have come and gone and so has the old Amy. I have been thinking a lot about going home, what is it going to be like, how will I adjust. I wonder if anyone will be able to see the transformation that has occurred within me. I am the same Amy as I was before but with a completely new understanding of who I am I have been wrecked, kicked in the butt and shown more love than I knew was possible.

Last month my Moldova team and I watched the Lord of the Rings series (yes, we are aware we are dorks). When we heard Frodo say this at the end of the movie after he returned to the Shire we cracked up laughing because we now relate to a hobbit. I know exactly how Frodo felt. You return to your old life, but you are not the same, I am not the same. The normal that I knew before will no longer be my normal because I don’t fit in. I am a more passionate woman I was before this journey. The exciting part is I find a new “normal” now. I get to find out how this new Amy translates into the American culture and that excites the heck out of me. I have a heart for America, for my generation. I have a desire to share this journey with as many people as possible when I get home.

I am at final debrief and finish up in a few days. It is hard to say goodbye to what has become home. But I must remember that this is not the end, just the beginning of a life long journey….