Living in Germany with the US Army isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds.
When we go out in public with our children, or “on the economy” as we say, we try to draw very little attention to ourselves – meaning we try to blend in with the European population.
So really, we don’t ever advertise that we are affiliated with the United States Military.
Where am I going with this?
Three weeks ago, after a seven hour flight from Germany to Baltimore with three small children…
Something amazing happened to us in the BWI airport…
We got off the plane and were going through baggage when we heard people clapping and cheering…
And when we opened the doors after customs, we saw this…
My eyes filled up with tears as they started cheering
“Welcome Home!” and “Thank you!”
And there were more of them…
Seth had to tell me to keep walking…
but I was rooted to the floor…
This was the first group of “Non-Military” Americans I had interacted with in over 2 years…
and I realize they were there for the troops coming home from war deployments…
But just for a moment…
They were saying thank you to me too…
For delivering my first child with Seth coaching me on a cell phone from Iraq…
For packing up my house and moving to Germany when our second child was a newborn…
For a 14 month deployment with morning sickness while raising two little boys…
For facing a fourth deployment on the horizon with courage, despite my fears…
It meant so much to me.
But I couldn’t think of anything to say…
(I was running on 4 hours of sleep and already 12 hours into my day…)
All I knew is that I just wanted to hug them…
Because we were finally home…
The Land of the Free…
and the Home of the Brave…
Would you like to thank a Military Family for their service?
I invite you to stop by the list of blogs on the Military Spouse Blogging Community page
and connect with Military Families around the world who are blogging about their lives.
Or you could post a “Support Military Spouses” button on your blog so you can visit another time.
It’ll just take a moment -
and I assure you, it will mean a lot to them!
ps – You can tell em I sent ya!
July 9, 2010
Military Life, Reintegration, Uncategorized