I'll admit it, of all the hat's I wear: Realtor, Father, Board of Directors at the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors, Elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Brother, Uncle, Son (and this list could go on and on), the one I wear most proudly is the DAD HAT!
I cannot help myself! Since they were born, my kids have delighted and amused me endlessly. As they grew, I think I took their small defeats harder than they did. I also reveled in their large and small successes. I was so relieved that as they became adults, we still liked each other, still enjoyed spending time together, being 
important in each other's lives.
But since May, 2006, my youngest has been living in Romania. She's a Peace Corps Volunteer who teaches English to young Romanians. She knits regularly with a group of Romanian Grannies, does volunteer work in AIDS education and travels whenever the chance arrises.
Her hometown is Petrosani, a small coal mining town, where the mine has closed. She has a studio apartment in an old Soviet Bloc type building. Despite cold winter temps, there's no central heat and she's learned to cope with the absence of hot water for as long as a month.
But despite differences between the culture she grew up in, and life in Romania, she recently said that living with some of the hardships that are part of everyday life there, she's really glad to have experienced all of it. I think it showed her how resiliant she is, how adaptable she can be, and has helped her to drill down to what is really important in her life.
She's one of my heros! At 22-years of age, to go live on her own in a foreign country, in order to help make a difference in that country (and the world). WOW. I cannot imagine that I would had that sort of selfless courage at that tender age, and may not have it even now.
She's added Romanian to her list of languages. She's been able to travel to Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia (to name a few). When I visited last summer we spent time in Bucharest Romania, Budapest & Heviz in Hungary, and Vienna. I was amazed to watch her adapt to each new country, to be able to navagate and help us navagate in the languages we encountered, to see my 'little girl' in a different, grown up context.
But that's all background. The reason for this post is to share with you how excited I am that her 27-months is rapidly coming to the end. Before the summer is over, I'll be able to see her little face. Enjoy a glass of wine with her, hear her stories and memories face to face. I cannot tell you how much I've missed those things. We talk whenever we want to, instant message regularly, occasionally SKYPE with webcams and yesterday I got a text message announcing that she had arrived in Bulgaria and was having a wonderful time. But it's not the same as being together.
With so many options in front of her, I don't know that Kirstin has locked in on exactly what is next, but I'm guessing that it will be an interesting, exotic path. One that involves some sort of international humanitarian work, lots of travel and plenty of photos and fun.
For now, I'm not going to worry about any of that. I'm going to continue to check off the days until I'll see her coming across the concourse at Gerald R. Ford Airport in Grand Rapids, MI on July 30th.
Photo taken by a kind stranger at the top of St. Stephans Basilica in Budapest.
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Good morning Eric - It is great that Kristen is getting to experience what life is like in other places, we are very blessed with all we have here.