He's Home

After waiting for a 359 days, he's home.

We'll start where I left off last week...

Monday I took Dad to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye, especially after 5 days together on the road. Driving away from the airport I couldn't help but cry realizing that this really is it. I am here now. After resting at the house I went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Hickok, the family that I will be staying with until Luke and I get married. I am so grateful to them for opening up their home to me and answering a very important prayer of mine. The rest of the day I spent shopping, exploring the area, and unpacking my things.

Tuesday I woke up and got started on unpacking and cleaning right away. It took me all day, but by dinner time, the place felt like home. Jeff (Luke's roommate) graciously let me rearrange the entire house (except his room) and even helped me move some of the heavier furniture. It seems crazy, but even just moving a sofa around made it feel like home. I hear it's called "nesting." Tuesday night I picked up Allie from the airport. Allie is Mark Seelen's girlfriend. Mark and Luke have been platoon leaders together this year in Iraq. Thank goodness for Allie! She and I kept each other busy and commiserated with each other when we found out they'd be in later than expected.

Wednesday while shopping around Target with Allie I got a Facebook message from Luke saying they would not be in on Thursday as expected, but probably on Saturday. I was sad, mostly for them, but I knew he'd be home soon anyway. Allie took it harder, since she has to go back to Connecticut on the 4th. She switched her ticket though, so now she can go back on the 6th. Yes, two more days are worth the $264.

Thursday and Friday was just more time-killing. We shopped, explored, cleaned, cooked, and watched movies and TV. All in all, it was nice to have a "battle buddy" (as Luke calls it) during the wait.

Finally Saturday arrived... the day I'd been waiting for for a loooooong time. It felt like Christmas. I woke up with a stomach ache from the nerves, but I got to work doing some final prep work for the boys' return. I chopped veggies for fajitas, Allie iced the cupcakes and started the guacamole, and I did some final cleaning (vacuuming to be exact - yes Mom, I figured out how to vacuum). Then around 2 we headed to the gym on post where we were to meet them. We stopped for lunch at the PX but I was too nervous to finish my lunch. We got the gym and sat in the front row near the band. Only minutes after we got there a live feed of the plane landing came on. I teared up right away knowing Luke was on that plane and he was really home now. We watched the plane land, watched them deboard, and then watched them stand in lines to do some inprocessing. I saw a close up of Luke in the medical line and teared up again. Finally we heard the bus was on it's way and the music started. When they got there they walked in, stood in formation, and I immediately spotted Luke. Seeing him in person didn't even feel real. Finally there was a 3 minute little "welcome home" speech and they were released. I have never seen him shove people out of the way like that! (For those of you who'd like to see, there is a video on Facebook). We hugged for a while, mostly because I couldn't believe he was home, but as soon as we found Mark and Allie he was ready to go home, take a shower, and rest in his own house. I don't blame him.

So now he's home and I couldn't be happier! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. We're both grateful. More updates later. Love you all!