A Note from Rosie

Rose was coming home and describing to me how proud she was of herself and Israel. She sent me the following via text message:

“I am so excited to see you, you have no idea, I can’t stop thinking about coming home! I’m so happy here and I savor every moment, but I just want to hang out with you and snuggle the puppies and spend time with the kids. I’ve grown so much here and I’m so excited for you guys to meet the person I’ve become. I’ve started a life here and it means so much to me that I can come home as an accomplished person with so much to share with you guys.

You guys are the only things missing here. I never find myself thinking about places or things back home, only y’all. Everything I’ve ever wanted is here in terms of the culture and the place. Every day I am inspired by this country and its people, I never stop learning. I didn’t feel that in Dunwoody. In fact, I realize now that only here do I feel like I can really be myself. For example, I was very quiet in class in high school because of what I now realize was insecurity but here I am loud and make people laugh and I feel like someone I know because everybody always asks me to tell stories like papa and say they love the way I tell them.  I can’t wait to see y’all, and I can’t wait for you to come visit one day so I can show Israel through my eyes especially as a soldier.  And I couldn’t be more grateful for the support you’ve given me. This was not the most conventional decision but y’all stood by me and now the dreams I had as a little girl are coming true, something I don’t think most people get to experience”