The last couple of weeks have been like a world wind. I have had to come back unexpectedly to the United States after hearing word that my grandmother was in a grave condition. She still isn’t doing well, but is hanging on. I have experienced a lot of culture shock since I arrived back in my own home country. It is hard to describe. When I first realized that I could understand the conversations happening around me on the plane and then sequentially at the airport, it threw me off. It was like all of a sudden I could hear everything again. Like I had been deaf for a long long time and voila! now I could hear.

I spent time back with my family in the Central Valley of California, but it is always an overwhelming experience there and that certainly hasn’t changed. I have dubbed it the land of flowing milk and republicans… shew. That along with a few days of constant family time and I needed to head up to Yosemite, where I have called home during the majority of my adult life. I am still in the loop with my grandmothers health and condition and am much much closer than I was before and I think everyone feels better about it. A part of me feels like I should be back with them visiting my grandmother every day at the home, but it just takes so much out of me and I don’t feel strong enough to support that right now. I am hoping I will have the strength, the internal strength I need soon so I can return and be there for everyone.