Last night, I attended my first class since April when I went on a self-imposed hiatus to allow myself some time to deal with other more pressing issues in my life such as welcoming Hubby home after 1 year in Iraq, purchasing a home, moving, and dealing with my Mother’s illness.

A recap of the past 5 months:

Hubby is back, safe and of sound mind, heart and spirit. He re-acclimated himself into island life without missing a beat and transitioned from soldier to civilian literally overnight.

The home purchase was truly a test of faith and a showing of God’s grace and provision in our lives.

The subsequent move was not without its travails, but we survived relatively unscathed.

Mom is doing well. I do believe that she is a walking miracle. No pain from the 2 surgeries (mastectomy and inplantation of a mediport) and she is tolerating the chemotherapy amazingly well.

With all of these issues resolved, I figured that it was time to get myself back in class. Yesterday was the beginning of the last 7 months of my college career (hopefully) and I hope they go by quickly.

Although I went into my “Introduction to Criminal Justice” class with a relatively closed mind, my bad attitude melted away after about 5 minutes of being in class. There was something inside of me that clicked and my mind was engaged. I suddenly found myself back in student-mode. The instructor, a 25-year veteran of the Honolulu Police Department was eloquent and intriguing as he explained Criminal Justice concepts, sprinkled with generous servings of real life experience that had my rapt attention for the course of the 4-hour session.

We reviewed scenarios in which I was shot after deciding not to draw my gun on a suspected rapist. I guess I wouldn’t make such a great cop.

Hubby was waiting in the student lounge, doing homework of his own as he prepared for a training session on “buglaries, robberies and house break-ins” that he will be giving for his colleagues later this month. During breaks, I would visit him as I munched on vending machine junk food and excitedly told him about what we were learning. A newfound enthusiasm had welled up in me and I was excited about learning more about Hubby’s chosen field. Not that we ever lack in discussion points, but it’s always nice to have another level upon which to relate to each other. Perhaps my learning more about law enforcement and criminal justice would help me to be more empathetic and understanding about the challenges and scenarios that Hubby faces on a daily basis.

The thrill is back — and I didn’t even need to buy new pens!

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