Time Flies...



As long as I have been here in Iraq, I could almost consider this a duty station. Being in the Army, we are stationed at different posts across the world, typically,for three years. On August 14th, I surpassed my one year mark of being away from home. A lengthy 11 and 1/2 months has come and gone while we have been here in Baghdad. We have finally begun to count down the days...only because we are below one hundred til Homecoming.



Homecoming...that word now has another meaning to me in my life. There was a time that it only meant a football game with the clash of the Titans vs. The Unlucky Opponent. This game was divided by a showing of popularity during the halftime show with the Homecoming Queens and Kings parading around the field. This charade usually only left me feeling all the more inadequate, as I was no one of significance at that juncture in my life.



Homecoming...I can now add these meanings: Day of Rejoicing, Day of Reunion, Day of Revitalization. I will rejoice in the fact that I am back in my own country, back on trusting soil. I will rejoice while my beautiful wife holds me in her arms again, and I am able to kiss her lovely lips. The reunion between my wife and I will be a long-awaited, yet cherished moment that I am sure we will both have etched in our memories once it has come and gone. This past year has definitely taken a lot out of me...physically...spiritually...emotionally. Just stepping foot onto the tarmac at Pope Air Force Base will be the revitalization I need to keep my head up.



This is one Homecoming I can't wait to show up to...I know I will be the most popular person to SOMEONE!! ;o)