The end of the road

  I started writing this post on Friday, which was my last day on the job, but I never finished. What I wrote was very much straight from the heart, and probably a little bit overdramatic. After nine years in that career, it was to be expected.
  The song I posted above is one of my favorite marches, and I've heard it played many times live during formations or award ceremonies or changes of command. It's a beautiful piece, and I always feel like it really embodies patriotism. Listen to it, and listen to it loud. Don't watch the goofy video, it will only detract from the experience. Hearing this tune last week, as my hours were running out, honestly got me a little emotional.
  It was an amazing near-decade. I got to do things and go places I never thought I would. I saw things that fascinated me, inspired me, broke my heart, and horrified me. I feared for the lives of comrades who went into harms way and mourned the few that never returned. I experienced the deepest throes of fear, of paranoia, and of victory, and I proved to myself that I can do anything. I lived an entire separate life in the same space as my own.
  Now, that life is over, and I'm on to just being me. It's a major upheaval in my world, and the beginning of the realization of a dream I've had since I was seven. This new life comes at an incredible cost, but it's something I can't deny myself. It's going to be a lot of work, I know, and it's going to mean some lean times.
  But I've never felt more free.