He's Home!

  The day had come, my other half is now home.  God has been with us all the way.  He made it out of Baltimore no problem and into Dallas Fort Worth and out again with no problem,while flights before and after his were being cancelled due to bad weather.  I prayed for him to return safely for God to be in control, yes I had the whole day off and yes if he was delayed a day I would have to work when he arrived.  But God is good and the 30 min delay that was the end result was not even an after thought when I saw his smiling face.

  I arrived at the airport knowing others from the base would be there, so I hid.  I have done this 11 times, I have picked him up from the airport after being in a war zone 11 times in our almost 15 years of marriage.  I have my routine of getting ready and trying not to get too excited because things can change, been there before.  I didn't want to make small talk with strangers or people I barely knew, I didn't even take the kids with me.  I just wanted to hug and kiss my husband and enjoy those moments that are only ours.  To have him lift me up and hug me and feel him close to me again. Those last few moments before real life sets in.  I know people come to show support and let him know he is important.  Thankfully they stayed just long enough to help us tote his bags to the truck then they headed out.

  Every time he leaves there is that thought in the back of mind, what if. . .  What if he doesn't come back, what if he gets injured, what if he comes home but has a break down or isn't himself.  This time around prayer was a daily thing and we shared our thoughts, feelings, concerns and dreams through out the deployment.  This time I felt we actually grew closer even with the physical distance between us.  Old habits broken and new ways of doing things established.  It is amazing to look back over the years and see how each deployment has been different, has shaped our relationship, both good and bad, and how we have learned and grown from these experiences.

  Yes, I could have cried during this experience and said, "whoa is me" and poor pitiful me and these deployments have caused this and that but you can't do that.  You can't let circumstances beat you, there is always someone else who has it worse.  You have to embrace the suck so to speak and let it shape you in a way you would be proud of.  So when we are reunited there isn't that baggage of blame to deal with, we can just enjoy the fact that he is home and we are together again.