Hello from Nashville, Tennessee!  This is Slobo Trbanek writing; hope this finds you well and happy!

I am now engaged.  Asked my girl, Ivanka Petrovich, to marry me; of course, she cried (I did, too!).  We plan on getting married sometime later this year or at the beginning of next year, if the good Lord allows it.

Ivanka now lives with me and my mamma.  Mamma loves her so much, almost as much as me!  Pete, my friend, loves her too.  Ivanka is so easy to love: she is fun, has a great way about her, and she's very cute, too! :)

I am working again.  Got a new job back in March.  I've worked at mattress store for about a month; I help customers and take care of the orders.  My boss is very nice, and so are my co-workers.  I really like my job!

The weather here was bad the other day.  Tornadoes, thunderstorms, the whole deal.  Spent a good part of it in the basement, praying for God to keep me and my family safe.  Turns out 33 people were killed here in Tennsesee, alone.  My prayers are with those who lost loved ones or friends.  Over 300 people were killed across the southern U.S. from the storms; it was a bad time.  Now it is pretty, but we may get more storms next week.

Just what I did not want to hear!!  I am all stormed out; we need a break!!

I got my new prosthetic legs!  I am learning to walk on them; it is hard, but I am doing pretty good, all things considering.  I am still using my crutches now for the time being  until I get used to them.  Then hopefully I can get rid of the crutches and walk on my own.  I also hope to run on them, too. 

Mamma is very proud of me, at how far I've come along in my therapies.  So is Ivanka.  And you know something? I am proud of myself, too! :) I have really worked hard to learn how to walk again!!

Suddenly, the war back home in Bosnia is but a distant memory.  I find myself not thinking of it too much, but sometimes I have bad dreams about it, though not nearly as much as I used to.  For one thing, my life is too busy!

I am to graduate from my ESL classes in June.  Soon I will be able to speak the English language fluently.  Sometimes I still make mistakes, or I find myself speaking the way I used to when I first came, but I've been really working hard to improve my English skills.  I can now understand (and write) it almost perfectly!

I still have a Bosnian accent, but I guess that won't go away for a while.  LOL

I am thinking of writing a book about my experiences back in Bosnia-Hergozovina and here in America.  I am hoping my story can help someone else who might be going through the same things I did.  That is why I want to write a book about my life.  I think it might make for some very interesting reading, you know? :)

Well, I have to get back to work; break time is about over.  I will write in here again soon; sorry it's been a long time since you last heard from me.  Now you know why I haven't written.  I will try to do better next time.  Until then, this is Slobo Trbanek saying so long and God bless you!

~Slobo.

*To be continued.*