Deployments are like a novel. Each novel is divided into parts. The pre-deployment work ups and planning is the introduction, the body of the book is the deployment and the conclusion is the return and reunion. Many books have an epilogue, the final scene of a story that comments on or summarizes the main action. Regarding our deployment, this is yet to be written.

Like any good book, the reader should walk away from it having experienced different emotions. A great book is designed to make us grow, expand our horizons and challenge us. Deployments are definitely designed to do that. Our reunion with our loved ones is the 'epilogue' of this deployment. How we choose to summarize what has taken place in our life the past few months are pages yet to be written-by us.

How we have changed in the area of our home life, work and emotions will take some creative writing because it comes from the true creativity that only deployments can inspire. Like a focused author it takes effort to do this effectively.

If someone read your novel how will they know how you changed? Which new skills and interests have you acquired? How has your appearance altered from a few months ago? How have new routines changed the family structure? Most importantly, how has this deployment shifted priorities in your life? Books and deployments focus on an aspect of what is important to the author and to the reader. If you were writing an account of this deployment what would be the evidence of what's really become important in your life? How will the epilogue, the summary, of your novel indicate a shift in perception of what the future will be like now that your loved one is home?

How you choose to write the epilogue of this deployment will determine how great of a bestseller it will be. So whether yours is a romance, an action thriller, a mystery or a how to book on how to survive a deployment the ending is the cinch to it's success. Remember, every great book leaves room for a sequel. Here's wishing you a bestseller success!