Ben is coming home March 28th! I am so excited to see him. What has he missed? We went on a trip to the Pacific Northwest, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Santa Cruz without him, we had a wonderful time in Costa Rica, Mikayla has applied and been accepted to universities, including UC Davis where Ben goes, Scott had knee surgery, I trekked to TJ a dozen times, I changed jobs, we had work done on the house, birthdays and holidays have passed, many of us (including Ben) are a year older, daylight savings went and came back. This some of the things that have happened in my microscopic universe. Much has happened to contribute to the history of humankind in the time Ben has been gone.

Yet, when I talk to Ben, all the distance melts away.

I think Ben is going to feel culture shock when he gets back. I did the times I spent extended stays outside of the country. It is like entering a time warp, or being flung into the past to come home and everyone is doing basically the same thing they have always been doing, talking about the same things they were talking about before I left. Yet I return with travel stories falling out of my mouth. My point of reference changes and my perspective broadens.

Maybe Ben will slide right back into his friendships and family with more ease than it had been for me.

Ben thought he would become more religious by spending time in Israel. Instead, he says he has become less religious and more spiritual. We are secular Jews. What is a secular Christian or Muslim? A heathan or infidel. Yet there is such a thing as secular Jews. I identify with being Jewish but I am not religious.

Tonight Mikayla is spending the night at a friend's. Scott came home from work late, so I had the quiet house to myself. Soon that will change. I'm looking forward to that.