My brother is home from boot camp
Wednesday at work, I nervously sat around all day waiting for a call. My brother had a layover in Chicago and would be arriving home that day after six months away at his first Basic Training and then Advanced Individual Training (AIT).
Little did I know that he had already touched down and was on his way to see me. I was talking to a coworker, when another coworker told me someone was here to see me.
It took me a second to realize who I was looking at but as soon as I did, I ran to him.
Let me repeat myself. I RAN to my brother. Now I know we have discussed my weight, and let me tell you there are few things that I will run for. I run to cake and away from axe murders. That’s about it. So if that doesn’t show you how excited I was, then nothing will.
I truly didn’t mean to cry but one big hug was all it took for the water works to start flowing. It was ugly and embarrassing but I did not care because my brother was home. One of my amazing coworkers even caught the moment with a picture.
The poor guy tried to let go after a second or two and I just shook my head and refused to released him. He exentually gave up and started to hug me again. When I finally let him go, I got a good look at him.
Gone was the tall string bean guy that hasn’t grown since tenth grade. Now he’s muscled up. His shoulders are huge and I think he got even taller than he was.
We talked for a few minutes. I asked him if he had seen his kids yet (I wasn’t sure if his wife was at my parent's house or her parent's) and when he told me that Everly and Beau were out in the car, I was floored.
When they went to see him graduate from basic training, Everly refused to let her daddy out of her sight. If he did she would scream for him until he came back. Fortunately she had fallen asleep so he could stay for a little bit to see me.
We discussed the set of sibling tattoos that we have talked about getting for a couple years but never got around to getting, mostly because of my fear of needles. We decided we were going to his artist in Bryant in the coming months.
Before I knew it he had to go too soon in my opinion. I was without him for six months after all. But he didn’t sleep well on the trip home so he was ready to get somewhere and crash.
For the first time in six months all of my siblings were in the same state. Although I am someone who works with words on a daily basis, my vocabulary is not large enough for me to begin to articulate how overjoyed I am for him to be home.
Although he could be gone at a moment's notice, my family and I will enjoy the time that we have with him.