Welcome Home!

As my final blog post, I am going to tell you about the most exciting day of this whole military family experience; it is the day my brother came home. Yes, we met him getting off the plane from Afghanistan, but nothing will ever top the day he came home to his friends and family.

The entire day was spent running around, trying to make sure everything was perfect. We decorated the house, knowing we were having people over to surprise him and welcome him home. We also had a motorcycle group escort us to the airport.

When we were finally all prepared, we met the motorcycle drivers, and they drove in front of us to the airport. There were about twenty people, including friends and family, standing at the end of the escalator, waiting for his return. When he finally stepped onto the first step, everyone cheered, and the men that rode the motorcycles, shook his hand as he came down. I saw tears form in his eyes as he saw everyone supporting him.

When we left the airport, a state trooper met us, and we were escorted home in a line of cars. The motorcycles played patriotic music. The entire ecperience was amazing, and it really showed my brother how much he was appreciated and missed.

The rest of the night seemed perfect. We all sat around, talking about the things he had experienced when overseas. Of course he was not allowed to tell us everything, but hearing the stories about the things he did tell us, were very interesting. It felt good to be home as a family for the first time in nine months. Something about him sitting right in front of us almost felt unreal.

I know deployment is hard. It is not easy to worry and wonder if everything is OK over there, but it does get easier. As time passes, things will begin to feel more normal. However, when your soldier comes home, everything finally feels right again.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. I really enjoyed writing, and I hope you got some good advice out of it!

If you are interested in reading more blogs, I would suggest We Are Family! It can be found at http://funfamilyideas.blogspot.com. I really enjoyed reading through the various family event ideas. It even includes a good recipe! Maybe doing some of these activities will help pass the time until your soldier gets home! I hope you enjoy it!