YIPPEE!!!!!!!!

After some delay, our son is back in the states! The night before last was his homecoming ceremony. It was fabulous. I am so much more than thrilled to have him back. It is such a relief. The ceremony was very short and sweet. The commanding General did a perfect job at addressing the soldiers and their loved ones in a brief and heartfelt way. The entire ceremony took 5 or 10 minutes. There was a reporter from the New York Times there and one other “pro” taking pictures (from either the local or post paper… he took quite a few of us. I am going to try to track those pics down.)

Sweet Relief!

Once the formation stopped, and I saw our boy (he was right in front!) I found myself taking a big, gasping breath. It was involuntary, I didn’t feel a yawn or sigh coming on. The air just rushed in and I could breathe “again.” It was like I was able to really breathe for the first time in 15 months. Now that it is over and I am looking back on it, I realize how hard it was to have him over there. He’s already talking about another tour and about how he’d like to have an opportunity to do some slightly different work within his field. Gulp. Okay, it’s not today, so I won’t try to deal with it today.

Happy Mom, Happy (tired) Son

 

We’ve really just been hanging out since he got in. We are all tired and we’ve needed to decompress a bit. I imagine if I need to decompress, our son does even more so. Today we’ll go to the zoo or a museum (depending on the weather) and to the anticipatory Mass and then to dinner. Later, our oldest 2 sons will go and hang out with our soldier’s friends.

The Six most beautiful kids on the planet, ever, for all time:

 

One down, one to go!

Soon, my husband will be coming home for just over 2 weeks for R&R. YAY!!!