Our time here is nearing the end. I can't believe how these months have flown by. I can say I've really appreciated every single day I got to be here, seeing new places, eating incredible foods, and meeting fascinating people. Of course I'm excited to be home to friends and family, but I'm also dreading leaving this continent and leaving behind this life I love.
Fortunately, the past couple of weeks have been filled with trips around the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg, thanks to our friend Jacques. I fall in love with every village or city we visit and promise myself that I'll be back. Some of the highlights of these trips have been visits to monuments dedicated to the Americans who fought in WWII. We visited an American cemetery at Henri-Chapelle in Belgium, a German soldier cemetery, and a museum and monument located at the site of the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. Additionally, the home I am living in is attached to a factory which served as sleeping quarters for over 80 American soldiers who were stationed nearby.
In Bastogne, Belgium, I got to sit in a US jeep, climb on an American tank, read about the heroic Americans involved in the battle, and watch real war footage. I watched an American veteran who happened to be visiting that day receive a piece of the monument to take home with him. I would have loved to talk to him and hear about his memories of the infamous battle, but I just watched him be honored and wondered what must have been going through his mind.
These trips have been emotional and have incited much patriotism in me. It's difficult to describe how it feels to see thousands of crosses (and stars of David) spread out across a huge area of grass, knowing each one represents a person who had a family, who had goals and dreams, and who gave up all of that for his country and for the security of countries he would never again see and for people who would be forever thankful. All of the monuments we visited were filled with people expressing this sentiment and honoring America's intervention. I hope nobody forgets the sacrifices made.
For me it was most emotional seeing the crosses for those soldiers who were never identified. I was more thankful than ever that my grandfather was one of the soldiers who made it home. Had he not, there are 14 people so far who would not be alive today.
As sad as I am to be leaving Europe, I'm happy that these final weeks have given me reminders of the generous, brave, and beautiful country I get to call home. I have met countless people here who wish they could do the same.
