(245/366)
It’s my last night in Cocoa. Tomorrow I fly home to Maryland, exactly 4 months after I got down here. On one hand, it’s hard to believe it’s over. Four months was a while ago, but it went by quickly. On the other hand, I can’t wait to get home.
I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting when I came down here. And now that it’s over, I’m not sure I could sum it up succinctly. It was a lot of hard work and at times it was really tough being away from home for so long. Sometimes we worked long hours and it messed up plans. We didn’t all get along the whole time, but we also managed to work our way through it.
Andrew was amazing throughout this whole ordeal. We talked everyday, multiple times a day. We visited when we could and we even did some wedding planning. He sent me gummibears after I sliced up my thumb and got rear-ended in the same week. Visits home always started with special dinners and ended with hugs and gentle encouraging as I rattled off the reasons why I didn’t want to go back.
But for all the tough times, it was also a lot of fun. I learned how to surf (and made friends with the local surf shop guy), tried a bunch of restaurants up and down the beach, and even ran a triathlon (which I was sure I had given up this year). I definitely got a tan this summer, and Andrew and I made it to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I finished a 9000 piece puzzle and baked a few cakes. My mom came to visit from MA and my friends came to visit from across the country. I tried yoga and zip-lining and trampolining. I saw the Tampa Bay Rays and the Miami Marlins play at their respective stadiums.
Oh yeah, and we launched a satellite. Two in fact. RBSP is up in space orbiting through the Van Allen radiation belts. Things are being measured, science is being discovered. I’ve been working on RBSP for the past four years or so. I remember when it was just a picture on the computer screen. And now it’s in space. Something that’s just pretty crazy to think about. Something I helped build is up there.
Tomorrow I go home. The summer is over and I have to go back to my normal life. But this was an unforgettable summer. A summer full of memories that I will always remember fondly. Shared experiences with a great group of people. I saw things and did things that only a small amount of people in this world get to experience. I stood on places were history was being made and made a little history myself.
Summer is over.