Home, Sweet Home!
Well it has been a simply glorious day here at Hooah! Central. I am still missing a pair of boots, but those boots are on American soil, so I at least know I have them both on the same continent! It’s a very nice feeling, to say the least.
I have had a great day with my son. I have just enjoyed being able to look across the table and see him sitting there. Every time he walks into the room it’s like I am seeing him for the first time again. You know, I lost my composure at the airport. I am normally a stoic, but when he hugged me and I finally realized in my brain what was taking place, my emotions went into hyper-drive and kidnapped my stoic resolve. I was a puddle. It was awesome. He is awesome!
We are now settling into our first night here at home as a reunited family. I am hoping he will sleep. I am sure he is having to take in a lot, so I will be impressed if he can sleep much at all. I know that I can not when I am in an environment that is drastically different from one I have been accustomed to. Sure, he was born and raised here in America, but Iraq has been his home for over 7 months now. Not only has his internal clock shifted, but I would imagine that the sites, smells and sounds are all different — even if they are familiar in his mind, his senses will need a moment to catch up to the memory. It’s kind of like when you go back to your old hometown. You know where to drive and you remember the sites and landmarks, but for some reason they do not all match an exactness to the backdrop of your memory. It is almost a flat feeling when you hit reentry.
So, what’s it like having him home after 7 months of deployment? It’s surreal. I know he is here for such a short time, but I don’t want that to be the focus. I want to give him everything that he has missed out on, but I know I can’t. I am going to focus on enjoying him. Listening to his stories, listening to his music, and just enjoying the fact that he is here right now.
Do you know what makes a homecoming special? It’s just learning to breath. You take a deep breath in, and you exhale slowly… and then you look at him and steal a picture for your memory. See, unlike that incongruous between the actual physical location and the memory of a location that I talked about earlier, this picture will always superimpose beautifully over the original. You know why? It’s because locations we identify times in our life with — they only are a frame of reference and a point of orientation. Our soldiers, however, we carry in the deepest parts of our hearts. The imprint they leave is not one that time can erase, and it is a deeply embedded memory that can give you a little solace when he is gone again. Sweet relief, indeed.
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