We will be heading home. The season of travel comes to an end, and we return to what should feel like normalcy… but doesn’t. We’ll sleep in our own bed. Settle back into routines. Try to restore the schedule. But there’s an ache stirring beneath the surface—anxiety wrapped in the awareness that we’re not returning to the life we knew. We’re stepping into a new reality. A life without Dad. I’m still trying to wrap my heart around it. Trying to process, to understand, to accept what this actually looks and feels like. The few days we’ve been home just haven’t been enough. And so I know—I have to gather my strength for what’s ahead. It’s my turn to step in. To fill in the gap on the ranch. To support Mom. To reconnect with the land, the animals, the rhythms of family life. To step into the places he once stood. Truth is, this past month of travel… as full and hard as it’s been to be away… may have also been a kind of shield. A way to keep moving. A way to avoid facing the silence, the absence, the reality of being home without him. And now, as that moment comes closer, I have to ask myself: Has it been easier to be away than it will be to be home? Maybe that’s what I’m really afraid of. #backtoreality #grief #home #healing #processing #pain #loss #newnormal #strength #epicyourlife #fear #pushthrough