15 Days of Freedom!

Hello again. I am now back in the IZ after spending 15 days at home for the R&R Leave. Although my internal clock is still trying to figure out what time zone it is in, I wanted to put down some words about the great time I had at home.

Every soldier that is deployed for a year is able to take 15 days of leave at some point during their deployment. After spending 7 months here in Iraq, I was more than ready for a break. I intentionally waited until after my half way point so that I would have the bulk of the deployment behind me. Now that I’m back, I only have a little over 4 months left and I am refreshed and ready to finish up.

The trip back home was a real blessing. Mara and the kids were waiting for me at the airport and we really didn’t have any major plans other than to sit around the house and spend time as a family again.

Mara had the words “Honk To Welcome Our Daddy Home From Iraq” painted on the back of our van and we received honks and waves from people wherever we went (not to mention at least one free beer!).

The major event while I was home was my promotion party. As you can see, fun was had by all. We wanted to make it a “kid friendly” party as well, so we rented an inflatable bouncing tent for the kids to enjoy. We were overwhelmed when the tent arrived and were told that the business had decided not to charge us for it since I had come home from Iraq.

This really amazed us. The name of the company is Laser Sporting of Georgia, and they carrying a full line of inflatable rides for parties. Their web site is www.lasersporting.com and email is jim@lasersporting.com and I would ask that if you live near Atlanta to please consider patronizing them for your next kids’ party.

My father and his friend Janice traveled down to be with us as did some very close friends of mine from high school and college.

The rest of my time home was spent just being a “normal dad”. I got to take Gabrielle to school and have lunch with her. Alexander and I ran around and play games together. And Mara and I were able to go out and enjoy dinner and a movie.

When we got ready to go back to the airport, we found that our neighbors had lined street with American Flags and left a sign out for me that said they would miss me and hurry home and that I should wear “God’s Armor”. What a blessing to have friends like that.

Finally at the airport, once all us soldiers had gathered together and were ready to line up to go to the terminal, a VFW member guided us through the airport and announced “Ladies and Gentlemen, these soldiers are on their way back to the war zone, please show them your appreciation”. A large group of travelers got up and began to clap.

I know this sounds like a cliché, but I feel like a new man.