It is strange, now I miss the sea when before I missed the land, I missed stepping on solid ground, one that was not sandy or on a base in the Middle East, smelling the freshly watered grass, listening to the beautiful song of the birds that navigate the quiet blue sky. I missed going anywhere without the pressure of feeling danger around every corner, knowing what it was like to be at peace eating anything, having a beer with the certainty of seeing my friends again, being with them without the thought that maybe This may be the last time I see them.

I constantly think about how strange it is that I now want to return to my old jobs, it is strange to have so much free time, but now that I am halfway through the country I look at the big cities, I meet hundreds of people every day as if this were very easy . I remember that in my adolescence it wasn't like that, it was different, I saw the world as something distant from me but now, I feel like I connect with it. I feel part of this world to which I see a different shine, now I understand you when you talked to me about these things, these sensations that I lost after enlisting.

Lately I was thinking about time, I thought how complex and incomprehensible it is; I think about how much I spend now and how much I let go, sometimes the days seem short to me, the twenty-four hours that it gives us seem little to me. It is difficult to understand for me, before I thought I had all the time in the world, the days were long, they seemed to never end, the wait for the arrival of Christmas was eternal and now, just a blink is enough to realize that Christmas is just around the corner. around the corner At what point did we run out of time? A couple of years ago you were just my little sister running around the house like crazy having an incredible imagination and now, you are about to graduate from college, I hope that time is kind to me and gives me enough to make it to your party, I must be there, my journey must end before.

Speaking of time, this next to the wind that blows through the beautiful roads of Tennessee, today I am in Nashville making a three-day stop, I need to finally rest in a comfortable bed, without having to be on an uncomfortable bus or on a train where I can barely fall asleep without thinking about my life as a Marine. I swear that the memories are now part of my dreams, I have constant nightmares with some of the horrors that I saw in Afghanistan or Syria, I always try to relax, forget a little but they always return to me like a waterfall that not even a good whiskey can help me erase. However, I find something very good in Nashville and that is that here in this beautiful state they know how to prepare good alcohol, in addition to their good music, I love their whiskey, in every city that I come to or in every town I can find this delight that they offer me as if I were one of them, as if I were not a stranger. I missed that warmth in people, I missed feeling welcome, I missed the calm looks, full of light and joy. How much did this entail that it even seems strange to me? In Afghanistan and other countries I only received looks of anger and hatred, I don't blame the people, it's understandable, you're in their yard, you just follow orders and that's it, but to what extent? I don't know, I just looked at them and continued walking forward with my eyes alert, with all five senses aware of any action.

That same afternoon I prepared to go to a bar, a nearby one that an old friend recommended to me, a corporal with whom I fought for four years until he finished his service, his name is John Henderson, a very enthusiastic and friendly boy, I hope soon be able to tell you about him in another letter.

John promised to wait for me in that bar when I finished my military career, he said that none of us would know when, we would just find the right time to see each other. The last I knew about him was that he finished his degree in Business Administration in California. When I read this at the base I couldn't hold back my tears. I was proud of that young boy who always made the group happy. We saw him grow, we listened to his dreams, his longings and even told us about the girl who was waiting for him at home.

I take the time again to explain to you that that corporal is already a man, I found him at the bar having a beer, he was already waiting for me as if he knew of my arrival, in his gaze, however, that old happiness is still preserved, those eyes Full of hope, he may have a beard and the fatigue may be noticeable on his face but that boy is still the same boy who arrived in Afghanistan making jokes, telling jokes, full of life like I had never seen before. We talked for more than six hours.

The best part was hearing about their wedding, Ashley waited faithfully for him during those four years, fulfilling the promise that the two of them made when they met in high school, it is a beautiful story that listening to it makes you believe in love again, he told me more about His wife told me about their wedding. Being there for me was like returning to the old days at the base playing cards at night, before any mission while above us the dark sky settled with the brightest stars. He never stops talking, his topics are endless, he knows everything, and invents some things, of course, but at the end of the day he is just another person who leads a normal life.

Unfortunately, today I'm leaving Nashville where I didn't expect to have the best time. At John's house I met his wife who is the complete opposite of John, creating a beautiful duality where the two fit together perfectly as if they were pieces of a puzzle. Leaving Nashville is like leaving so much of myself behind, John gave me a valuable lesson on this trip that is just beginning to take shape despite having traveled half of the country, or well, almost half, he taught me how valuable time is. It can be for a person, how in such a short time you can create a new life, taking the opportunities provided are the key that makes you shine in this immense world.

Tomorrow I am going to leave Tennessee, I will go to the borders of Kentucky, to continue my way to Illinois, it is where I hope to find another old friend of mine, I thought during the night of the old memories, not the bad ones, not the bad experiences that They marked me throughout my life, if I didn't think about my companions, about the moments we shared, I haven't known anything about them for a long time, all or the vast majority left me to follow their lives, I lost all communication with them until I knew that John knows where everyone is located. I promise that it won't take that long, it will only be a couple of days, nothing will change the objective, you know that when I make a promise I keep it, I will be there for your graduation but first I must meet them, heal old wounds, try to look ahead. I promise that when I return I won't be the same gloomy old soldier you remember.

Well, little sister, I must continue, I am already leaving the hotel, I will contact you when I arrive at the hotel in Kentucky, I will spend the night there and then leave for Illinois, I hope to be arriving in Chicago in two or three days, I will keep you informed, take care of yourself very much Sophie, see you soon.