Homecoming

I saw a story on the news this morning about a sailor coming home from war to his family. He's been overseas for I don't know how long, and he just got back. They didn't tell his six-year-old son that he was coming, and Dad showed up in Junior's class unannounced.

Oh, the look on the little boy's face...

I'm still crying because of it.

He jumped up from his desk and ran across the classroom to meet his father, who scooped him up and hugged and hugged, and kissed and loved.

They were both crying and I'm pretty sure anyone in America who saw that piece dissolved into tears right along with them.

I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it, and about how happy that little boy is to get his daddy back. He's written his dad many letters since he left, and his class put together care packages and such. I can't imagine how much he's missed his dad, or how much his dad has missed him. And I can't imagine how scared he's been that he'd lose his dad.

It was one of those stories that hits you in the solar plexus and stops you dead in your tracks, and makes you so, SO grateful for getting to see your loved ones every day. Or almost every day.

M returns from his business trip tonight, and while his homecoming will probably not be quite as poignant as the sailor's, he'll be every bit as welcomed and loved. No, I haven't alerted the media.

Best wishes go out to Judy for a speedy recovery! She underwent back surgery to remove a bulging disc this morning, and everything went remarkably well. In and out in under an hour, and she's probably already home by now. Woke up without the pain she's been suffering from for the last three months...so she's got quite the homecoming as well.