Lumberjack, National Guardsman, milblogger (and Valour-IT recipient) J.R. Salzman is hitting a major milestone in his recovery from combat wounds--he was home from Walter Reed this last week and will be returning home permanently in about two weeks!!!
Over on J.R.'s site, I found the following, written before he began training for deployment in the fall of 2005:
This summer has been probably the greatest competition summer of my life. I remained undefeated the entire summer in log rolling. I won my 14th medal at the Great Outdoor Games and tied for the most medals ever won there. I won an ESPY Award. Hell, I even got to be in a movie and log roll Steve Martin. Other than winning the lottery, what more could I guy ask for? Talk about a summer to remember for the rest of my life.
I believe the good memories you have in life will help you get through the bad times. I'm hoping the deployment goes smoothly, but if stuff goes bad, I have something to fall back on to get me through it.
You're almost through it, J.R., and you've done a hell of a job. Of course there's still more to the recovery process beyond leaving Walter Reed, but I have no doubt you're going to make it with flying colors. Congrats to you and Josie for achieving this milestone.
Josie has a tremendous post about all the things they did this last week: what it was like for them to be home together for the first time in two years, attending his National Guard unit's homecoming, talking with those with him the day he was wounded, his discovery of things he can still do despite the loss of his hand, and the worries that accompany the joy of finally leaving Walter Reed.
There's really no way to excerpt it. You gotta read it all.
