A few weeks ago, I had the honor of traveling with my fiancé, and future in-laws down to Fort Steward in Georgia to welcome home my fiancé’s brother (my future brother-in-law) back from Afghanistan. It was such an amazing experience. As we anticipated their arrival, there was an announcer on the microphone that was letting us know how far away the soldiers were. The first announcement was, “they are about 30 minutes away”. So we just hung around and talked with one another as we continued to wait. Kelvin’s sister in law Tara, along with their children McKenzie and Jonathan had an opportunity to speak with a news reporter about their excitement and anticipation of his arrival. The announcer came back over the microphone and said, “they are about 10 minutes away”. The anticipation really started to grow as we knew it was only a matter of minutes before the soldiers arrived.
Finally, the white buses began to roll in one by one. The crowd was screaming and yelling and they were excited to see “their solider”!! The welcoming home ceremony was getting ready to start so we all made our way to the field. We could see the soldiers from a distance lining up behind some trees. And all of sudden you see all the soldiers, all 360 plus, of them marching onto the field. The crowd went crazy…………
There was a guy that gave an invocation over the troops welcoming them home, and thanking God for their safe return as they transition back with their families. Next, was the speaker that gave short and sweet words of encouragement to the troops and the families? Once the speaker was done, the crowd was given the “GO” to go onto the field to greet their troop. Those families stormed the field searching for their love ones; there were husbands, wives, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters out there giving hugs and kisses to their “solider” whom they hadn’t seen in a year!! I must say, it was amongst one of the most emotional things that I had ever witnessed. There were tears of joy and screams of happiness that filled the air. There was even a couple that got married right there on the field….which I thought was the sweetest thing ever!! You hear it on the news, and you even hear people talk about it, but it was nothing like actually being out there on that field to welcome home those troops.
This was my future brother in law’s second tour of deployment, and we are very happy to have him back on US soil. I am very proud of him for the service and sacrifice and that he renders to this country. I’m also very happy and proud of his family for I know it’s a sacrifice for them as well to be away from one another for such a long period of time.
So “The Best of Better” is that he is back from deployment. Although this is not the end of the road for this family, we are certainly glad to have him back home!! Continue to keep this country and especially our troops in your prayers as they sacrifice to fight and protect this country!! Words cannot express our gratitude enough for all that each of you do. May God bless and keep you!!
Love ya, ~Blessings Flow