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A Home Coming.

Monday, August 18, 2014

I have a secret, my husband has been gone for most of summer (well minus that week he had food poisoning). For obvious reasons, I didn't post this information all over the Internet. It has royally sucked not having him here. We had big plans to explore our new city, but alas, the military life is unpredictable. That being said, his boat finally pulled back into Memphis this evening.  With the excitement of having him home again, I realized I never wrote about his BIG homecoming. The one back in December after an overseas deployment that kept us apart for over a year! A YEAR!
Pre-deployment.

He left 2 weeks before Christmas in 2012, I thought that year would drag by. And believe me, at some points, it did. But the next thing I knew December 10th 2013 was upon me and it had been exactly one year since he had been home; and it was exactly one week until he would be home again. I started my deep cleaning, worked my last day of work, and said goodbyes to a lot of wonderful people (we were moving two days after his return home). The night before one of my best friends came over to help me hang my homemade signs and I barely slept a wink that night. The next day I woke up to run last minute errands and get my hair done (priorities folks). It really seemed like I was running out of time (I may be a bit of a procrastinator), actually I was running out of time and asked my best friend to hop over the bridge to grab Taylor's favorite IPA beer.

His flight was coming in at 8:30 and I was a ball of emotions, excited and nervous comes to mind. I got to the airport a little early and waited in the parking lot for one of our three friends meeting us there, because I didn't want to carry signs into the airport alone. My sweet friend Kimberly was first and was nice enough to bring her camera to take pictures. Shortly after Kimberly's husband, Pat, showed up; followed shortly by Amanda, with Taylor's favorite beer.

His flight finally landed and we anxiously waited, Pat and Amanda held the signs so I could keep my hands free and Kimberly was ready to capture the moment. We waited, and waited, and waited a little more. Finally the captain of the plane came by and Pat asked if there was anyone else on the flight. He told him no, and my heart sank.

Taylor missed his connecting flight and since we had his phone shut off while he was deployed, he didn't have a way to call me. He was so busy trying to find another connecting flight, there wasn't really time to call me from another option. There was a really nice guy that worked at the airport who tried to help me out as much as he could, which unfortunately there wasn't much he could tell me due to security reasons. All I could find out was there was another flight coming in from the same location in an hour. So my dear friends stayed with me, and we waited some more...



I LOVE that Pat held that sign when Taylor showed up!
I'm glad we did, because Taylor WAS on that flight! I was so happy, my heart was bursting.
There he is!



We were fortunate enough to pick up right where we left off, and I couldn't imagine having a better group of friends there to welcome him home with me.



This is what happiness looks like!

**All pictures (minus that of my homemade signs) were taken by my talented friend, Kimberly. They have recently relocated to New Hampshire area. If you live near there, check her website out {{here}}, she's amazing.

6 comments :

  1. You guys are adorable!!! My husband and I are both National Guard, and also did long distance before we moved in together. Being apart is hard, and it makes me so happy to see reunions :).

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  2. Ahh this is SO adorable. So happy for you that he's home again!

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  3. awwww so adorable. yay for him coming home! reunions always make me cry.

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  4. Awww, those pictures are so special! I've done the long distance thing on and off for years, but for over a year at once, I don't know if I could handle that! I have such respect for anyone who can handle that!

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  5. i love that you have these moments captured! lovely pictures, happy that he is home safe for you!

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  6. Oh my what lovely moments to have captured <3 It must have been so hard having him absent for so long.
    xx
    http://missluludarling.blogspot.com

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