It is impossible for me to believe that it has been 16 years since a journey of a lifetime came to a glorious end. This week marks the anniversary of a month-long trip I took in 2009 with four West Texans to Israel. We stayed with families who opened their homes to us. We toured sites not on everyone’s bucket list of places to see. We got to see up close how Israel has carved out an oasis in the desert. I led a Rotary International Group Study Exchange team to Israel. My traveling companions were four professionals, none of whom belonged to Rotary. They were Aida Almaraz Nino, Katt Krause Massey, Shirley Davis and Fernando Valle. They took Israel by storm. They were the perfect West Texas ambassadors … and they remain four of my closest and dearest friends to this very day. We traveled with a team from the Netherlands. We overwhelmed our Dutch colleagues, too. They were much more, um, reserved than we who hail from West Texas. Some of them responded well to our over-the-top attitude; others, not so well. I remain good friends with a couple of my Dutch colleagues. This trip was a life-changer at many levels. I got to see holy sites I only have read about in the Bible. I was able to cast my eyes on Gaza City, the area under intense fire in a war that Hamas terrorists started with a brazen rocket attack on Israeli civilians. I stood on the Golan Heights, the area once held by Syria. I got to swim in the Dead Sea, slather myself in Dead Sea mud the locals said contained mystical restorative power. Indeed, my GSE colleagues all got to swim in the Dead Sea, the Red Sea and the “Med” Sea. We learned how to navigate through a kosher diet, we learned how to make hummus. We were allowed to see how Israelis live in constant fear of attack from neighboring states. It was a wonderful, joyous, edifying and delightful exposure to a culture carved out of the desert. And I would go back in a heartbeat if given the chance. We learned a Hebrew phrase, which means “to life.” So, with that I offer a grateful “l’chaim.”