Finished

Troy came home from work today and said "I need to sit down for a minute and take a break.....  it's been a long...

10 years."

Friends, today was his very last day of training.

HIS VERY LAST DAY!

Four years of medical school.

Four years of residency.

Two years of fellowship.

10 years.

Not to mention undergrad.

And today, it ended.

I think we're both still in disbelief.  

So much of life has happened during these ten years.  

Professionally, it's been a busy but very successful ride for him. His accomplishments are too numerous to name.  Awards, publications, presentations, AOA inducted, a year as Cheif, and countless other feats.  He also prepared for and passed THREE board exams. Each exam took a year to prepare for, but he is Board Certified in Anatomical Pathology, Board Certified in Clinical Pathology & Board Certified in Transfusion Medicine. And today, he completed his last day of a Surgical Pathology Fellowship at Methodist Hospital, Houston. And though I know that it wasn't.....  he made all of this look so easy.

I'm truly bursting with pride for him.

But the last ten years haven't been all about medicine.  They've also been the years that we began our life together.  We got married, we traveled, we bought a home.... we made a cross country move.  We gained new life long friendships through medicine (we love you Heather, Adam, Mona, Silvia, Martin!)..

we were given two sister-in-laws...

we lost a father.

We became parents.

So much life.

It's no secret that our year here in Houston has been a hard one.  It's been very difficult for us to be away from home.  

But I remind myself often to not let that overshadow what a major accomplishment and gift this year has been. The fact that Troy obtained a fellowship with this top notch program speaks volumes of his success.  Here, he trained with the best of the best, and will walk away better in so many ways.  Coming to Houston Methodist was not something that we had to do.  Though some days it felt like it, it wasn't a misfortune or a mishap.  It was an achievement.

A huge achievement.

So tonight we celebrate!  We celebrate a huge chapter of our lives... a 10 year chapter...  coming to a successful close!

But that break that my husband wants to sit down and take tonight....  it can't happen yet.

Because we have an apartment to pack.

Because these 10 years are finished.

And we're going home.