Coming Home

Monday, August 8, 2005, me, my wife, and our 2 dogs started a trek to Fort Benning, GA to watch the graduation ceremony of our son. As a Senior in high school, 17 years old and not quite a man, I have been very emotional at times over the past 11 weeks. I would read his letters and listen to his voice when he was allowed to call and I could tell this has been the toughest thing he has EVER been through. Tougher than the divorce of his bio-mom and I, tougher than the custody battle over him, tougher than getting acclimated to living with me and my new wife (his new stepmom), tougher than relocating to Texas after living in NC for 6 years...tougher than all that put together. I would learn this later on in the week as he and I talked. I was almost in tears at times.

We arrived in Birmingham, AL at about 5:30 PM central time to meet with a couple of my wife's friends (twins) for dinner. JoJo and Nancy are wonderful people. They are dear friends to my wife and for that I am eternally thankful. They are just fantastic.

The hotel was right next to the steakhouse where they wanted to have dinner. Nancy is a steak woman and nothing else would do. With that, she paid for dinner and I was in awe that she would be willing to do that. I am a stranger to her (but not to JoJo), but she showed me kindness that comes from a Christian heart.

After dinner was over with, my wife had the staff at the steakhouse sing me, "Happy Birthday" and bring me out dessert. All the while I was red-faced (I hate attention like that), but I hold no grudge. My wife loves me...it shows in the way she deals with my short temper.

After dinner, we returned to our room to chat for a little while. Nancy and I have a bit in common due to our current/past jobs (telecom) although JoJo and I more alike in the food department.

Nancy and JoJo left at about 9 PM and Debe and I turned in. We were driving to Fort Benning on Tuesday (a three hour drive from Birmingham) and we needed our rest after being on the road for 11 hours or so.

We drove to Columbus, GA the following day and the trip went well. Once we got to the hotel, we realized there was almost no place for the dogs to do "the dog thing". My wife talked to the front desk and they said there was a park about 5 miles down the road. That worked out well most of the time, but it rained every afternoon and the older dog, Maxx, was not being very cooperative. Actually he is the reason why I dislike travel with pets. He takes a bit of the joy out of travel.

We ate dinner out that night and Applebee's (after eating a light lunch of sandwiches and water) and got a surprise call from our son. He was at a concert that was being held on base (I think it was "The Donna's", not a band I would go see...) and he was just making sure we made it in. We chatted for a few minutes and then he had to go. He was calling from a Sprint phone booth. They were giving away free 3 minute calls and our son took advantage of it.

Wednesday was Beret Day at Fort Benning. Beret Day is the day before graduation when the soldiers get their black berets and then they are released to their families for the remainder of the day. The ceremony was delayed about an hour or so due to a transportation problem and after the ceremony, we took some pictures (I will post some a bit later). We toured the National Infantry Museum on the base and after our son signed out, we left to go eat (Ruby Tuesday -- our soldiers choice) and then to our hotel. The food was good and we all got our fill. Our son and I had burgers (they are very good there), my wife had salad. Women. :-)

We got back to the hotel, grabbed the dogs (who did not recognize our son at first) and took them to the park to let them do their thing. With that complete, we headed back and got changed into swimming gear so we could try out the pool. This was the place that he and I got to talk. We laughed and enjoyed the moment, wanting to savor the time we had. After an hour or two in the pool, we went back and cleaned up some and I fired up my work PC so our son could surf the web (something he had not done in a while). My wife napped some and I just watched our son. He looked so much different than he did 11 weeks ago. He looked older, more seasoned. I guess it is the 'warrior look' he has burned into him. He still has an easy smile, quick to laugh, but as his father, I can see he is now a man. He has been transformed.

After some goof off time, we got directions to a funky little pizza place, The Mellow Mushroom, a place we originally discovered in Chapel Hill, NC...home of the 2005 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions, The UNC Tarheels. Sorry...I got a bit carried away!

We ordered a half and half large pie, BBQ chicken and portabello mushrooms/meatballs. It was not cheap, but it is the best pie I have ever had. Our soldier ate his fill and they we noticed we needed to get him back on base.

After a getting gas and making a few wrong turns, we got back to the hotel. We were tired and needed to get some sleep since Thursday would be a long day for both of us. Graduation was at 9 AM, checkout of the hotel was noon, but we had to leave the dogs there so they would not overheat. That meant we had to get things done with our son on base, get back to the hotel and then check out. After checkout we had a 13+ hour drive back home to Texas.

The next morning, we were up at 5 AM, at breakfast at 6 AM and at the ceremony at 9 AM. Graduation went well and the ceremony was short. We took some pictures of our soldier and his 'battle buddy' (a young man that our son was able to witness to) and went to get his duffel bag so we could take it back for him. He had 3 bags total and he planned on only taking back 2.

We said our goodbyes to our soldier and his battle buddy (who really is a wonderful young man...he really helped our son out quite a bit) gave them hugs and handshakes, prayed for them and we went back to the hotel to get the dogs, check out and take them to the park to use the bathroom and tire them out some for the long drive back. After a quick walk, we ate the leftover pizza, some Gatorade, and a granola bar before hitting the road. I started the trek by driving to Birmingham, filling up the gas tank and then letting my wife drive so I could get some rest. She drove for about 3 hours and I took over. I drove until we got to the Texas welcome center and then she took over. She was able to make it about 2.5 hours or so then I had to take over for her. We did a final bathroom break for her and I finished up the trip.

When we got home, I made her go to bed. She is notorious for getting home and unpacking as soon as we get back. I told her to go to bed while I unloaded the van. We could unpack once we had some sleep.

I got up at 6:30 AM to walk the dogs (yes...5 and 1/2 hours sleep) and made a pot of coffee...the first coffee I had made in 5 days. It really hit the spot. I washed the travel dishes (Tupperware, etc), unpacked my stuff, the non-perishable food box, and the cooler. I collected all the trash and recyclables, entered in the bills and travel receipts, and made some boxed muffin mix for us to eat. I was getting a head start. I know this will be a long day. I also want the place to be in order when our soldier comes home this afternoon/evening. It will be good to have him back.