Welcome Home!

Saturday (11/24) I started a 7 hour drive to Fort Benning GA. Why? To pick up Meric!

Sunday morning I got up early to a text message from Meric saying he had landed in Altlanta GA. He told me he would let me know when they left Atlanta on a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to Fort Benning. Of course I was way too excited and was at Fort Benning long before he left Atlanta. I got to Freedom Hall (the place we thought he would would be arriving) and found someone else waiting as well. He was waiting for his son. We stood outside and chatted for a bit and then went into Freedom Hall. Inside there was food and chairs awaiting the returning soldiers. There were also some more family members and I started chatting with a woman whose husband was returning as well. (Most people on the flight were not from Fort Benning and would be flying home later that night so only a few family members were actually there.)

Then the buses arrived and the soldiers started coming in. I could hardly believe it when I saw Meric for the first time. It was so surreal seeing him in person and not on a computer screen. Everyone came in and sat down. Then someone got up and told everyone they had 5 minutes to do whatever and then they would start the ceremony.  It was so nice to hug and kiss my husband again. I didn't want to let him go. (And yes I cried.) Then there was a short ceremony and they started the process of paperwork and turning in gear. A few hours later Meric was all mine.

I treated Meric to a lunch at Red Robin, his favorite. We spent that night in Columbus GA and then drove 6 hours to Bowling Green KY. It was a nice trip and only had a minor delay when we witnessed a car accident on the freeway. We stopped and waited for the police and paramedics to arrive which wasn't too long. We ate dinner at a cute hole-in-the-wall place and then checked into our hotel. I learned to swim over the summer and Meric hadn't seen me swim so we got a hotel with on indoor pool. It was a lot of fun playing around in the pool.

The next day we headed to Fort Knox so that Meric could check in and get a 4 day pass and then we would stay one more night away from home before heading back to the campground. That's when things didn't go according to plan. They didn't give Meric a pass and instead wanted him to start in-processing immediately. Also a call to Kelli that morning informed me that the trailer was once again having electrical problems. Because of all the problems we decided to just head home that night.

When we pulled into the campground there was a big Welcome Home sign in front of our trailer and Kelli and the Smiths (campground owners)  were all waiting for Meric. It was a great sight to have so many people welcoming him home. Inside the trailer there were several balloons and 3 dog who were very happy to see their daddy. The Smiths also invited us over for pizza. It was really nice to sit and relax.

I am so happy to have Meric home. It will take a little getting use to but it actually is pretty normal already. It is SOOOOOO nice to have my husband home!