Remember that time K came home from Iraq?

I thought I'd blog about it (finally).

In many ways, the ceremony was like when K came home from Afghanistan in 2006: They tortured us friends and family with sappy music (seriously, "Candle in the Wind"?) along with a slideshow of the soldiers (like we're not emotional enough already). Dozens and dozens of friends and family members held "Welcome Home" signs and crammed into the gym waiting for the soldiers to arrive.

















Unlike 2006, most everyone was dressed appropriately, which was a bit disappointing.

Just like 2006, everyone kept an eye on the windows in the doors of the gym to catch the first glimpse of the buses that would carry our loved ones home.

And just like 2006, once they arrived, they filed neatly out of the buses, into a formation, and then marched one by one into the gym.


















This group was much larger than the group K deployed with in 2006. This was the largest flight back from Iraq, but there were several other flights that arrived home before K's (some as early as late December) and even a couple that arrived after.


















Just like 2006, there was a very brief speech declaring the end of the deployment ... and then the soldiers were released.



I didn't cry for K's homecoming in 2006. We both cried when he arrived in Dallas for R&R.

I noticed K tearing up a bit when the soldiers were still in their lineup before the national anthem and prayer. I'm sure some of it was the emotions and relief of the whole situation, but he said he was also thinking about the people who didn't make it back for the ceremony. Thankfully, no one in K's unit was killed, but K knew a couple people who had died, including his cousin who was killed in Afghanistan in the very same area K had been for the 2006 deployment.

I had wondered if I would cry at the homecoming, given the enormous amount of relief I was sure I'd feel. But I didn't cry.

I was there with two other wives, and we found ourselves in disbelief that the moment had finally arrived. We know all too well that things with the military are constantly changing, so we were too afraid to get excited until the guys were right in front of us. We decided it was the lingering effects of the self-preservation mode we'd been in for well over a year.

One of the wives has an 18-month old son, and she was trying to hold him and their welcome home sign, so I was multi-tasking by taking photos with her (fancier) camera and videos with mine (part of the reason the videos were a bit shaky). We were pleasantly surprised when our husbands wound up coming in one after another and standing by each other during the ceremony. The three of us had told them that we would stay in the bleachers to avoid the mass chaos upon their release. Instead, they would come to us. Hardly anyone else did that, so it worked well.

What also worked great was my method for my sign. I knew that since this deployment was bigger than in 2006, the ceremony would be as well, so I wanted a sign that would stand out in the sea of "WELCOME HOME"s. I had told K for months that the sign would be a giant red "G" (first letter of our last name). Evidently it stood out great, and it provided a laugh for those of us who can have a dirty mind at times.















It's a design I'll have to remember in case of another deployment, and one of my friend told me she'll be using it as well if her husband deploys again.

But for now, it's such a relief to know that for at least the next 14 months, our husbands will be here on good American soil (unless we venture out of the country for vacation!).