Book+23

 **Anthony DeSalvo The Home Stretch: Odysseus Travels to New York In Search for His True Home and Family** As a polar bear returns to the arctic after being stranded in the Sahara Desert, against its will, doing all that it can to return home, even so did Odysseus return to his home state of New York after being stranded in Iraq, fighting a war, struggling to return to his true home and family. Odysseus anxiously walked through the busy John F. Kennedy airport in New York, New York after a grueling plane ride that seemed as if it had lasted an eternity. It had been years since he had even talked to his family in writing. He stepped into the brisk, piercing air outside, and was towered over by the massive skyscrapers that he deeply missed. Thousands of thoughts rushed through his head: Would his family be home to greet him? Did they leave; losing hope because all they knew was that he had lost communication with US headquarters? Where would he go first?

When he was finally able to contain himself, he watched the speeding cabs as they flew through the airport roads branching into what seemed like a million different directions. He finally pulled one over, and he was that much closer to returning home. It was something that he had wanted since he had left for Iraq four years ago. It had been so long that he was surprised he even remembered where he had lived; he had missed out on so much. He could feel the chills crawling up his spine and moving through his body, but his arrival home was not like he had expected. He sat in the cab staring at his dark, abandoned house that he had been dying to see ever since he left four years earlier. Slowly and slowly, his return home was becoming blurred by the four years worth of tears that he had held in.

He stepped out of the car, and he went straight to his mailbox, hoping that there just might be a letter or even a note that could give him some indication of his family and their well-being. As he opened the nearly frozen-shut mailbox, what he found were the twenty letters that he had sent home to his family throughout his service. These letters were letting them know that he was still alive and to wait for him. Clearly he had not sent them soon enough because they might not have left with no notice. His heart sank, and he felt worse than the day when he realized he was no longer in communication with his own country.

As Odysseus approached his lonely home, he prayed to Athene, daughter of Zeus, that he had kept the key to his own home over the course of his four year journey. Odysseus had bought a book about the gods/goddesses of Ancient Greece, something that he had always had an interest in, and he read this book throughout his journey home. Based on his reading, he was sure that she could work a miracle for him, but this miracle was going to present itself in a way that Odysseus might not realize at first thought. Sure enough, he reached into an empty pocket in his backpack that he had guarded with all of his life while away from home to find nothing but a few pieces of gum. After nearly falling into a deep state of depression, Odysseus was left with no choice but to go the Smith's house next door.

Josh Smith, neighbor and friend of Odysseus, opened the door in shock at the sight of his long-lost neighbor. They discussed his journey home, but the first issue brought to the table regarded the family of lonely Odysseus. Mr. Smith nearly broke into tears as his wife Jane, a very intelligent and determined women, spoke out: "Your wife Penelope struggled to pay the bills with your absence," she said, " and I tried to offer herself and your child a place to stay upstairs, but she seemed to have a connection in a small town just outside of the Andirondack Mountains."

The next morning, Odysseus was on a plane, headed to the Andirondack Mountains, paid in full by his generous neighbors next door. Could this have been the miracle that Athene was presenting him with? He did not know, but he was getting that much closer to getting his life back because not only had he lost communication with the US in Iraq, but he lost communication with his family at the same time.

Upon his arrival to the place where his family was calling home, he was set on finding shelter for the night because there was no use in trying to find his family at nighttime. It was approaching midnight on New Years Eve, and his excitement for the night was finding an old, abandoned hut about 50 feet up in the towering Andirondack Mountains. Although he knew that this hut was not going to be as warm as a house, he did not expect the brutal, bitterly cold wind that would come and go in long, howling gusts. It was well below zero with the wind chill, and the next morning the search for all he had left had begun; it was a new beginning, a new year. Just the pure thought that he was not with his family the night before to watch the glittering ball drop in Times Square was a disappointment in itself, but maybe he could spend what was left of the first day of the New Year with his family, at home.

Since the town where he was searching was fairly small, it was not a very difficult task for him to ask around and find an answer to the location of his family. 5284 E. Maple Street was the magic address that he was told he would find his family at, according to a local coffee shop that he had stopped at to warm up a bit. Odysseus was not going to forget this address. It meant more to him than anything in the world. He finally arrived at the log cabin-style home, and was greeted by a family of three instead of his long lost family. When he finally was able to process what was in front of him, he could not believe his eyes. Odysseus was looking into the house of Fred, the last US soldier that had seen him since he had lost communication with the US headquarters in Iraq. Although he was in absolute shock along with Fred himself, he was feeling a sense of devastation. He could not believe that his long lost family was not there to reunite with him.

After two hours of discussing various things about the war, his survival, and his family, Odysseus was told that his family was sent back to New York, New York because Fred had heard news of Odysseus being found. They had left that morning, hoping to become a complete family starting the new year, and the only thing that drove Odysseus to return home that next morning was the determination that he had preserved to be with his family for good.

The next day, around noon, Odysseus arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport, and took a taxi back to his home. This time the lights were on, and when he checked the mailbox, there was nothing there. He knew he was home, and he no longer felt lost like he had for the past four years.