It is my goal to

It is my goal to visit all 50 states before I meet my maker. I have
traveled to 39 and the District of Columbia, so only 11 left to go. I lack
Washington, Oregon, Montana, The Dakotas, Nebraska, Alabama, Mississippi,
Florida, Alaska, and Hawaii. I have also been to Canada, Mexico, and Hispanola.
Going to Europe and Asia are also desired, but I feel some sense of patriotic
duty to see my own country and continent before committing to others. Arizona is
a state that I have wrongly imagined. It is quite diverse, mountainous and
evergreen in portions, dry and windy in others. I am amazed and thoroughly
delighted in this discovery. In these green slightly hilly places, it reminds me
somewhat of the Midwest. It is like standing in line at the market, looking over
and seeing a person very similar to one you once loved and lost: a feeling of
excitement, anxiety, and pain all at once rushing over your body. Both relief
and sadness taking the place of the hormonal rush that swept through your blood
only a moment before. I am sure that many will speak of their thankfulness
today. I choose to quietly think of the thankfulness that I have had and hope
that its medicinal properties heal my heart from this longing for my home.