This is a "MomBlog" from our local paper in Lafayette, LA. Warning, you will laugh, you will cry, and the story will remain in your heart for a while.
My blog today is full of moments that will bring tears to your eyes---good, happy tears. Get a cup of coffee, sit back, enjoy, and when you are finished, please say a prayer for all of our soldiers who are still fighting our war.
I have shared with all of you that my brother, Josh is a Marine. He has just finished his second round in Iraq. His plane was scheduled to come in at 4:00pm on Friday at the Lafayette Airport.
Ken, Tyler, Kady, Skylar, Lexie and I showed up along with my dad and his wife, (Josh's mother) to welcome him home. We had just enough time to see him, get dinner and get to Tyler's baseball game. Much to our disappointment, thru a series of delays he would not be home till 11:30am on Saturday.
My dad and step mother went back home (in Reeves, it is by Kinder). They had a huge party scheduled for him on Saturday, my dad had purchased 300 pounds of crawfish, cooked red beans and rice and had invited everyone they knew. Of course, I was going to the party--Ken and Tyler could not make it due to the baseball tournament, so I told my dad not to come back to Lafayette on Saturday, I would just pick him up from the airport and we would go to the party.
When he finally arrived, my girls were so happy to see him, and he looked wonderful--happy to be home. We went to get his luggage and as luck would have it, it was not there. The attendant said that it may be on the next flight from Houston, which would arrive at 2:15, so we waited.
That gave us enough time to go and watch Tyler's noon game--so we surprised Ken and Tyler at the field. The game ended at the perfect time for us to get back to the airport only to find out that they could not locate his luggage.
We left Lafayette and started the 1 1/2 hour drive to my dad's house. All of the girls had brought pillows and were asleep in no time. Josh and I took that time to visit, laugh, and joke--between the phone calls. Everyone was calling every 30 minutes to see how close we were--it was pretty stressful and at one time I said, "I feel like I am driving the president!!!".
Finally, we get close and my dad calls.....he says, "Don't tell Josh, but the Marines on motorcycles are here and they want to escort him home"--of course a lump forms in my throat, but I cannot say anything. When we turn off of the main street onto a side road, there is about 6 motorcycles blocking the road. One of the guys comes over and says, "Welcome home soldier, we are here to escort you home.....".
Can I tell you that I lost it right there? Three motorcycles were in front of us, and two were behind us---as tears are streaming down my face I see that there is a lady on the back of one of these motorcycles..she turns her head...it is my GRANDMOTHER (my dad's mom) I scream to the girls to look that Granny is on the motorcycle. The escort puts on its lights and sirens, and off we go. When we turn into my dad's driveway, it is lined with people cheering.
The one person that breaks my heart is Josh's mother. She is at the beginning of the driveway with tears streaming down her face--her baby is home from war, and he is safe. I drive down the driveway, trying not to run over the motorcycle people, but I am crying so hard I cannot see!!!
When I park and get out I hear the national anthem playing and see the American flag and the Marine flag flying--I come around to the passengers side and I see my step mother holding her son's face and I am overcome with joy and thankfulness. After my granny gets off the motorcycle (with help of course, she is in her late 70's) she finds my dad, her son, and says, thru tears, "I brought our boy home" as my dad turns, he wipes his eyes and sees me looking at him and says, "I am not crying".
The day went wonderful, the crawfish were large, the music was good, and the company was wonderful. We were just a simple country family welcoming home our personal HERO. The day went wonderful, the crawfish were large, the music was good, and the company was wonderful. We were just a simple country family welcoming home our personal HERO.
Kami Douglas.
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