And on Sunday

Summers are always bittersweet around our house. We love the fact that summers mean baseball and watermelons and more time spent at home with the kids. But summers also mean that our son goes away for a month. And just as the saying goes, if you love something set it free, if it was meant to be it will come back to you. Well he has come back to me!!or to us!! I can't explain the emotions I have as this day approaches every year. I am so excited but so saddened by the loss of time I have had with him and wonder how much he has grown over this past month and will he still love us as much as he did when he left. With all those questions and a heart just exploding with love that I haven't been able to give properly, we loaded into the car to go get our beloved son from the airport. I walked quickly through checkpoints and lines to get tickets and get passed on through to other gates when finally he came off the plane. I think I floated over to him, at least that is what it felt like. Our hugs are always so genuine,just like the ones you see in the movies. Full of tons of love that has been buried for a month. There are no tears this time, just pure love, so beautiful. We quickly gathered bags and ourselves to run out to see the rest of the family, especially his two biggest fans, his sisters. They were elated to see him and followed him around like little puppies all day. And although he was whisked off to football practice for the night, they soaked up his presence. They screamed and played and ran all over the house. Multiple occasions Ella wanted him to come see her room. Our house just isn't the same without him here. We all miss him so much and love the day that he comes back to us. This time seemed a little different though. He seemed happy to be HOME. I love that word, home. We are his home and he sees that. He really missed us, including Ryan, which I know warmed Ryan heart!! As I started to help unpack our traveler, I pulled out his sketch pad and took a look at what rollar coaster he had come up with only to find a two page journal written about his trip to six flags. Cute writing about his roller coaster adventures and how he was spending his last few days with his dad. Then at the bottom of the last page I saw some beautiful words that I will never ever forget. Take a look

Aren't they just beautiful. On Sunday he gets to come HOME to his FAMILY! How great is that! And although he didn't know, nor will he ever know that I read them, he has once again shown me that love always conquers all. And although we went through some rough times as a family, just him and I, our love helped us to stay focused. As I checked on him sleeping tonight and stood there and watched for a while, remembering back to the days of baby-hood and toddler-hood and now we are entering young man-hood, I realized just how far my love goes for my kids. And just how much it hurts when one is missing for a while, our family just isn't complete. So here is how my last journal sentence would read:
And on Sunday I get to have my FAMILY HOME!! Welcome home Bubba!! We sure did miss you!!I will love you forever and always!!