Jessica's Homecoming Story

John is coming home from his year-long deployment to Afghanistan! It's really, really happening! In fact, by the time you read this, he may already be home! This week, I've got some of my wonderful blogging friends who are sharing their variations on the theme: homecoming.

I'll be back sometime during the week (or early next week) with pictures and at least one post about John's homecoming. Until then, I'll be off the grid, enjoying some much overdue time with my fiance.  

Enjoy my guest bloggers' stories! To see other posts in this series, click here.

Hi, I'm Jessica! I write over at My Baby Birds (Facebook) about our life as a Coast Guard family of six! I'm a veteran of the Coast Guard myself, and my husband (the Sailor as I refer to him) is a Maritime Enforcement Specialist for over 13 years now. We have four daughters, ages 10, 10, 2, and our happy surprise is 4 months old. We've experienced a lot of deployments, and a lot of transfers in the past 13 years, and are currently going through both! My husband returns home in June and we are moving to Cape Cod, MA in July.

I think one of the many unique aspects of the Coast Guard vs. other branches, is that our deployments are shorter, but frequent. My husband has spent 9 of his 13 years on ships, but instead of going away for a year, they'll spend 2 -3 months at sea, come home for 6 weeks, and then go back out for another 2 - 3 months. He's had two 6 month deployments, which is the longest we've done at one time. His first long deployment, in 2003, involves kind of a funny homecoming story. The ship he was attached to went to Iraq to travel up the rivers performing security, naval escorts, etc. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, he left right after we found out we were pregnant with our twin girls. Back then I was floored by the timing, but he's deployed almost immediately after every positive pregnancy test since, so by #3 I just expected it.

The Coast Guard is pretty good about trying to get their members home for births, and his Command was smart enough to fly him out right before the "shock and awe" to avoid him getting stuck in country. I had no idea when he'd be coming home and was about 7 months pregnant when I got a call in the middle of the night that he was somewhere in Europe waiting for his next flight. It took him five very long flights to get from Bahrain to Honolulu and he arrived late on a Wednesday night. Our homecoming was me, teary-eyed and alone in Honolulu airport at 10 PM. I've never been so happy to see anyone, and it was kind of perfect that it was just he, I, and my huge belly! Here's where it got funny...

We finished the pregnancy, had our twins, and 3 weeks later he had to fly back out to meet his ship, which was now in Australia. He was only going to be gone for about 6 weeks this time - easy breezy! When it came time for the ship to return, there was a big hoopla on base because of the length and location of the deployment for this specific Coast Guard unit. I showed up with the twins and stood on the pier waiting for the ship to moor up, with a car seat on either side of me and an itty bitty baby in each. Apparently someone told NBC news that I was also active duty and had given birth to twins during this deployment. Just a few minutes before he walked off the ship I had news cameras in my face asking questions I wasn't ready to answer. I was a deer in headlights and didn't have time to explain that he had just been home for several weeks for the birth of our twins. Crew members started walking off the ship and running into the arms of their spouses and children. Tears everywhere! Squeals, bear hugs, men spinning their brides in the air! It was a beautiful scene. Then there was my husband; cool, calm and collected, walking towards me.

As I got closer to him, with a news anchor and camera man following me, I tried to mouth something along the lines of "make this look good!". I felt pressure to do our crew and their families justice, and was wishing with everything in me that they chose someone else to highlight. It ended up being the most awkward hello ever. He was thrown by the news crew, I was worried about looking horrific on TV, we sort of miss-kissed each other and hugged like two strangers on a blind date. If I didn't have a news crew following me, we would've hugged, made a joke about it being a "short patrol" and I'd show him his girls. I'm such a dork, I should've just been real, but sure enough we ended up on TV over, and over, and over again that week. The most goober reunion on the pier that day!

Summer of My Youth

Together with some awesome co-hosts, I'm bringing you the Summer of my Youth Link Up Party.  

The idea is simple: relive your youth, blog about it, link it up!  Go somewhere or do something that reminds you of summertime when you were a kid - read a book (or series), visit a place that has meaning, make that recipe you couldn't get enough of, watch the show or movie you know all the words to, or listen to that CD you wore out.  It can be whatever brings back those awesome summer memories!

Before we dive into the deets, let's check out the awesome ladies who are playing hosts this summer:

The ladies bringing you your link up are: Love From Home, Charleston Crafted, Tarnished Silver, Jo, My Gosh!, Homemade Ocean, and Hungry Janey!

Now the deets!

Link Up Schedule:

TODAY!  Link your blog up below and let us know you're on board!  We want to where to be looking for those awesome summer memories.

JULY 1ST, AUGUST 1ST, SEPTEMBER 1ST  Visit the co-hosts on the 1st of each month of the summer for a fresh link up where you can share your Summer of My Youth blog post - tell us what you've done, where you've gone, how you're reliving summertime.  You can do all three months or just link up one - the choice is up to you!

Link Up Rules:

1. Follow the co-hosts!

2. Link up your blog! (You only need to link up to ONE co-host to be linked to all!)

3. Get started on recreating your childhood.

4. Come back July 1st to link up your 'Summer of My Youth' post with us!

Natasha's Homecoming Story

John is coming home from his year-long deployment to Afghanistan! It's really, really happening! In fact, by the time you read this, he may already be home! This week, I've got some of my wonderful blogging friends who are sharing their variations on the theme: homecoming.

I'll be back sometime during the week (or early next week) with pictures and at least one post about John's homecoming. Until then, I'll be off the grid, enjoying some much overdue time with my fiance.  

Enjoy my guest bloggers' stories! To see other posts in this series, click here.

Hi, I'm Natasha. I am a grad student, avid DIYer, artisan, and blogger. I love writing about crafting, travel, and history, and I have my man talked into food blogging with me when he gets home from deployment! 

For me, the worst sight in the world is my man's back, sea bag over his shoulder, walking down the pier. That sea bag means this isn't just a day at work, and the hardest part isn't just that he's leaving – it's that his being gone is about all I know for certain. My man is a submariner, and they don't call it the silent service for nothing. Furthermore, he is on a fast attack sub, the most notoriously schedule-changing creatures in a world of unpredictability. This means that when he heads out, I don't know where he's going, when he'll be back, or even when he'll be allowed to send an email.

But, in spite of all this not knowing and uncertainty, things have a way of working out. Plus, loving a military man really teaches you to appreciate your time together! You literally never know when he could be unexpectedly called away, not to mention the known extended absences.

We'd tentatively hoped for a liberty port safe enough for me to visit, but things hadn't really worked out through most of the deployment, Suddenly, about five months in, I found out that I might, in fact, be able to visit. I say suddenly because there were quite literally three days between when plans were finalized and when I left! It was an emotional roller coaster ride. I got everything lined up and purchased on Monday. Then, I got an email saying the whole thing was off, cancel all reservations. I did, assisted by lots and lots of tears.I received an email saying don't cancel yet, it may still be happening, just a few days later. Ok...I got an email saying nope, it's game on, only even sooner! Actually, the highly specific email I received from him told me to rebook the tickets but “maybe with different dates.” Very helpful.

Three days later, I boarded the plane, very excited and more that a little nervous. Would he be there when I arrived? When were they leaving? Was I about to fly literally around the world to see him for one day? And how would things be between us? I hadn't seen him in a very long time and he'd already been on deployment for over five months. A retired submariner classmate of mine once explained that “If you're not funny before you go on a sub, you will be by the time you get back.” Great.

In the end, everything worked out amazingly. It was like our own mini homecoming in the middle of the Pacific. When I arrived, travel worn he really, truly was there at the airport to greet me. Not only there, but (I have to brag a little) with roses in hand. Oh, and he had a big bottle of water, too, because he knew I'd be dehydrated after the long plane ride. What a guy! He was the one on deployment, but he acted like I was the one who deserved special treatment.

It sounds cheesy, but the three and a half days we ended up having together were the happiest days of my life. I was really afraid things would be awkward between us after so long, but they weren't, at all. He was just as amazing as I remembered and every single moment was precious. We hiked, snorkeled, swam, went to the movies, had dinner out, sipped coffee, and generally did all the normal people things we hadn't enjoyed together in far too long. I pretty much grinned like a maniac the entire time, and he adjusted remarkably well to seeing actual daylight.

In some ways, seeing him made me miss him even more. He had duty the day before they left port and it was so hard to drop him off on base and drive away, knowing he'd be so close, yet totally inaccessible, for the next day before departure. But I also knew something else – this deployment hasn't changed who we are as people or how we feel about each other. No, that's not true – I firmly believe we are closer, better, and stronger because of it. I also know that I'd wait all that time over again, and more, for him because he's worth every minute of it. I'm still waiting for him and don't know, for sure, when he'll be home, but I know I'll be there at the pier when he does.