Homecoming's and Coming Home's

I'd like to start this one off with WELCOME HOME 1/3!! :) Homecomings always give me that warm fuzzy feeling. :) Something about driving around on base reading all the signs hanging on garage doors, fences, walls, etc. Some are cute and sweet with tiny children's hand prints and some are pretty with a hint of sexy implying all the alone time for the wives was worth it. Never ceases to make me smile.

When the hubs got back from Afghan I had a really hard time deciding what to put on my sheet. That's right for you non-military we use bedsheets. Cause we're awesome like that. I went back and forth between popular sayings, song lyrics, or just something of my own. I googled, I doodled, and I bounced ideas off of friends. See, I wasn't in Hawaii when B got back from Iraq so I missed out on this ritual. I eventually came up with something cute and up it went. B liked it, and as is tradition, it now hangs on a wall inside the garage.

As wonderful and touching as this tradition is, there is always one thing I can't help thinking... It may be the OCD in me, or perhaps the former cheerleader but always the same thought. Why can't you people write pretty letters in a straight line?!?!?! haha. Does this make me a bad person? Probably, but it's still the truth. I personally took 2 attempts to get it right. I mean, a sheet is cheap and I had 7 months to get it right....

But either way it's still a nice feeling on base. But sadly it is also bittersweet. Because for some families they are not afforded the same opportunity to hang that sign they agonized over. They do not have the first hug and kiss off the plane (or bus if your base does not have a flight line). They never earn the reward of their months of suffering. And those families can be told many times how thankful we all are for their sacrifice and yet it does not lessen the pain.

So Homecomings are always a mix of feelings for everyone. But I feel like I can honestly say that I am sure the men and women who did not come home would make the sacrifice again to ensure the safe return of those who did come home. So here's to you, our Fallen Heroes, rest well as you are Coming Home, you've earned it.