when you feel like giving up ...

It will be hard. I won't say that it won't be especially if they will be putting you where I feel they would because you're a big man and you are strong. Physically, it will be very tough, probably tougher than anything you have ever experienced. You will be so tired that when you get home, you want nothing else to do but take a shower (you have to!) and crawl into bed. You will be so tired that you will start questioning why you even went there in the first place when you were doing pretty well over here.

It will be frustrating. People around you won't understand the pains you are going through. Your family might not understand what you are going through. As much as I try, I also might not understand fully what you are going through over there. You will be giving it your best but it may feel that your best is not enough.

IT IS. It will just take time for people to fully appreciate and understand things. It will just take a lot of patience and understanding on all sides for clarity to happen. It will just take a lot of love for things to survive.

As cliche as it may sound, it is when it is darkest that the light starts to come out. It is during heavy storms that the strongest tree is tested and proves its worth. It is when things fall apart that things actually really fall into place.

Every single bad thing that will happen or you may encounter will be a blessing in disguise. It will prepare you for better things, for amazingly good things. I know this because the same thing has happened to me. When something bad happens, when I am down in the dumps and I feel like there is absolutely nowhere for me to go to because I am so far gone, it is when the good things start to happen.

Remember this: "when you are on ground zero, there is nowhere to go but up."

You will feel homesick. You will miss the most important persons in your life. You will miss the familiarity of your daily routine. You will miss the smell of the places around you. You will miss even the mundane things. It will hurt so much that you wouldn't know what to do with the pain. It will eat at you.

You need to handle this. You need to learn to handle this in a productive and positive way. You need to accept that it will be awhile before you see the people you love BUT you will see them. You will get to hold them in your arms and tell them you love them. You will get to be with them soon enough.

Do not give up. You have wanted this for a very long time and you finally have it. It is now in the palm of your hands. Do not let go.

Just like with me ... you said that you just used to dream about me; that you dreamt about me way back when you were in high school. You finally have me now and I will be yours as long as you want me to be yours. Do not give up. Do not give up on us or let go. You have wanted this for a very long time and you finally have me. I now belong to you. Do not let go.

When things seem to be falling apart, when everything seems to go wrong, when the ache in your body and in your heart may feel too much ... remember ... you wanted this and you wanted us. DO NOT GIVE UP.