Coming Home, in a complicated kind of way
Our son returned home today from a year serving with the National Guard in the horn of Africa. Home means Kansas, or maybe the United States. It is more complicated than the usual 'house where I grew up' kind of meaning. With a birth family and an adopted family and all the complications that go with that scenario, well, how do you decide where home is?
We got to be in Topeka for the ceremony welcoming the soldiers back.
It was a trip of unexpected changes. Originally the ceremony was set to begin at 10:00 am, so we arrived at 9:30. At 10:15 we asked those sitting around us if they knew anything about the starting time. It had been changed in the last day or two. It was to start at 11:00am.
Chuck, Ben, and Wes took a walk and got back just as the National Guard was ready to walk in.
There was a short ceremony that included an invocation, the national anthem, the presentation of the Kansas flag to the commander, remarks from Gov. Sam Brownback, remarks from a National Guard officer, and an benediction, followed by the Army song. It took about 20 minutes.
Then the soldiers were released to find their families. There were probably 500 soldiers. My message had not gotten to James that we were coming. We couldn't find him. Ben and Wes walked through the reuniting families on the floor and still didn't find him. They went again and we followed, finally reaching him outside the ExpoCenter.
We visited for a while and talked about plans for the rest of the day. James was waiting for his sister, Holly, to pick him up. He called her and then realized that things could get pretty awkward. His birth mom and her husband were with Holly.
James said he was fine with having us meet. Chuck was fine. Ben was fine. Wes was fine. I thought I was fine. I met Wes's eyes for a minute, and realized I wasn't fine. I didn't know why, but I wanted this meeting to wait for another day.
I can think of a number of reasons now why that might make sense, but truthfully, at the moment, it was my gut feeling that made the decision. It was not some rational well-reasoned, logical conclusion made after weighing the circumstances of everyone involved. I'm satisfied that it was a good decision, and that if it was a mistake, it is one I can work through.
We visited a bit longer. James offered to come by the house soon to catch up with us. We snapped a picture and went to the car.
We went back to the car and started talking about where to eat as we pulled out of our parking space. Someone noticed a car near us that had a styrofoam cup on top of it as it made its way through the parking lot.
I rolled down my window and yelled to get their attention, but I was unsuccessful. It was misting and wet and I rolled the window back up...or tried to. It had come off its track and would only go a little more than half way back up.
There was a Honda dealer directly across the street. They had time to fix the window right away. There was a barbecue restaurant about a block and a half away where we could eat while we waited. While we walked to the restaurant we called my brother and sister to see if they had time to join us. My brother answered his phone and came out for a short visit.
When we got back to the Honda dealer, they still had not worked on the car. The person who was going to work on it got it onto a lift and then left for lunch. They moved it to another lift so that someone else could work on it while we waited.
After a half hour they had the window up, but not fixed. They wanted $92 for that. Chuck objected politely. The window wasn't fixed, and even if it had been, $92 was the price of a full hour of service labor. Our car only got a half hour. They agreed to change the charge to $46.
We were late arriving home, and Wes called his job to make sure his substitute had showed up for work. Nope. I ran Wes to his house, and then to work. Then I came home and started cooking the things I still needed to make for our Easter gathering.
We got there a little late, but none the worse for all the mishaps and changes we had throughout the day. It was a nice gathering, good food, good conversation, good people, and at least three great hugs from Luke!
We got to be in Topeka for the ceremony welcoming the soldiers back.
It was a trip of unexpected changes. Originally the ceremony was set to begin at 10:00 am, so we arrived at 9:30. At 10:15 we asked those sitting around us if they knew anything about the starting time. It had been changed in the last day or two. It was to start at 11:00am.
Chuck, Ben, and Wes took a walk and got back just as the National Guard was ready to walk in.
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| The Guard marching into Kansas ExpoCenter (these pics had to be adjusted for color because of the lack of light in the auditorium) |
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| The view of the stage from where we sat, Gov. Brownback on the left. (Sorry about getting the woman in front of me into the pic) |
We visited for a while and talked about plans for the rest of the day. James was waiting for his sister, Holly, to pick him up. He called her and then realized that things could get pretty awkward. His birth mom and her husband were with Holly.
James said he was fine with having us meet. Chuck was fine. Ben was fine. Wes was fine. I thought I was fine. I met Wes's eyes for a minute, and realized I wasn't fine. I didn't know why, but I wanted this meeting to wait for another day.
I can think of a number of reasons now why that might make sense, but truthfully, at the moment, it was my gut feeling that made the decision. It was not some rational well-reasoned, logical conclusion made after weighing the circumstances of everyone involved. I'm satisfied that it was a good decision, and that if it was a mistake, it is one I can work through.
We visited a bit longer. James offered to come by the house soon to catch up with us. We snapped a picture and went to the car.
 |
| Wes and James |
I rolled down my window and yelled to get their attention, but I was unsuccessful. It was misting and wet and I rolled the window back up...or tried to. It had come off its track and would only go a little more than half way back up.
There was a Honda dealer directly across the street. They had time to fix the window right away. There was a barbecue restaurant about a block and a half away where we could eat while we waited. While we walked to the restaurant we called my brother and sister to see if they had time to join us. My brother answered his phone and came out for a short visit.
When we got back to the Honda dealer, they still had not worked on the car. The person who was going to work on it got it onto a lift and then left for lunch. They moved it to another lift so that someone else could work on it while we waited.
After a half hour they had the window up, but not fixed. They wanted $92 for that. Chuck objected politely. The window wasn't fixed, and even if it had been, $92 was the price of a full hour of service labor. Our car only got a half hour. They agreed to change the charge to $46.
We were late arriving home, and Wes called his job to make sure his substitute had showed up for work. Nope. I ran Wes to his house, and then to work. Then I came home and started cooking the things I still needed to make for our Easter gathering.
We got there a little late, but none the worse for all the mishaps and changes we had throughout the day. It was a nice gathering, good food, good conversation, good people, and at least three great hugs from Luke!
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