RNR

Its Deuce Deuce, HouseHold 6 and our little fire team in the Magic Kingdom, watch out Mickey!
Me HouseHold6 and my little machine gunner!
Taaaadaaaaa we are about to ride Pirates of the Caribean, I said we were riding it I didn't claim that I could spell it!
Nothing like overpriced face painting at Disney World. The Pirate cracks me the hell up though.
Dedicated to my fallen brothers RIP.
Well RnR was a blast. It felt so good to go home and see my kids, they got so big from the time I was away and my son was talking so much more than when I had left. Once again it was strange to enter the big gates of Atlanta’s International Airport, so many people carrying on with life, it is just weird seeing Americans, dressed casually or in business attire. Atlanta is a giant hub for military travel so a lot of people don’t pay you any mind. A few people came up and thanked me and shook my hand and that was pretty cool. It was a long ass ride from Kuwait to Germany, then from Germany to Atlanta. We got to ATL early in the morning which had me pretty excited that meant I was going to be home sooner than I thought. I boarded my plane in ATL to take me to my connecting hub in Philly, the folks on that flight were really great they let the guys going on RnR off first then I boarded my flight in Philly to my final destination of Binghamton. I sat watched and waited for the plane to get there, I listened to a guy all dressed up business man style talk to “Marty” on the other end telling him how the big boss was going to be pissed that not a lot of vendors turned up for the “show”. I wondered if I could ever be a business man like that, a life where I’m not carrying a rifle or leading Soldiers on the battle field. His whole gig seemed very unmanly to me.

My flight touched down early in Binghamton and I deplaned and noticed my wife had not yet made it to the Airport. Minutes later I see her running with balloons, signs, and kids in tow. She was so upset that she hadn’t been there to see me get off of the plane. The poor woman, my son decided to shit his pants, and then she got stuck in construction on the way to the Airport. I didn’t mind one bit I was home and in her arms where I belonged. We drove back down through the construction where she pointed out the different construction workers that she had swore at and flipped off. The first order of business for me was some new shoes considering I didn’t have any civilian shoes.

While at home I got to do so many things the first was watch my girls perform in a dance recital, and it was amazing they both have accomplished so much and there skills have improved a lot since I saw them dance last. My youngest daughter had her very first solo in front of people and we were pretty nervous but she came out like a star with enough energy to power a county. My oldest daughter did a solo performance which was a dance dedicated to me. I was amazed and damn near broke into tears. It was so good to be home.

We then packed up the car and headed south to Florida, (I forgot to mention all the painting and stuff on my wife’s car, like welcome home and such things) we got a lot of honks and waves and whenever we stopped everybody welcomed me home. We got to Florida after I drove straight through; rested one day then went and hit up Sea World. Sea World is really cool and owned by Anheuser Busch and Anheuser loves the military, and the military loves them. It was Halloween and the park was prepped for ghouls and ghosts of different shapes and sizes, we did our time there headed home and got our costumes on for a long awaited trick or treat session. You see in the last 4 years I have not been trick or treating with my kids because of deployments, so this one was extra special. We hit up a really fantastic neighbor hood in Florida, nothing less than million dollar homes, my kids had filled their buckets twice. We went as characters from Grease, my son and I were T-Birds, and my Wife and youngest daughter were pink ladies and my oldest daughter was Bad Sandy.

A day or so after that we went to the best most magical place ever, Disney World. I love Disney there is so much to do and see there that you can’t do it all in a day it’s impossible. I’ve been to Disney a dozen times since Kara and I have been married and I have a great time every time we go. We also had a great opportunity to go back to Vero Beach. I love this place I love Vero, it’s nice quite and on the ocean. Kara’s aunt hooked us up with accommodations at the Disney Resort there. We were definitely living the high life. Its then that I realized that I could be that business guy as long as it involved me making lots of money so one day I can have a condo on Vero and enjoy the ocean. I woke up early one morning and just walked down the beach, and I could’ve gone forever. Everyone loved the resort you had beach access and pool activities it was a blast. We also hit up MGM, Animal Kingdom, and did another day at the Magic Kingdom. MGM was really cool my kids are huge fans of High School musical and they got to dance with some of the people that were promoting HSM2. They were pretty excited.

I love Florida and that’s where I hope to end up one day. There is so much to do and it’s just beautiful down there. With my having to go back looming closer we packed up and headed back to New York, so that I could participate in a Veterans Day assembly at my kids school. The school always does a tremendous job when it puts this on and recognizes veterans from the community, the students put in names of those that they know who serve and they are recognized and given a certificate and a flower. It really teaches the kids to respect the men and women who fight for their country.

To top it all off Kara’s father had a Thanksgiving dinner for me before I left. It was great Kara’s family came over and we had turkey and ham and everything. I read my kids one last bedtime storey, tucked them in and kissed them goodbye. At 4am my wife drove me to the airport and kissed me good bye. No matter how many times you do it, it never gets any easier.

The whole time I was home the men from Charlie Company where never far from my thoughts and the events that happened on Sept 4th were at the forefront. When I’m here my thoughts and my heart are always with my family wondering what they are doing and thinking about them and the good times we have had together. I just happened to be headed home on Veterans Day, so every line I hit I was ferried to the front, which was all great except that I really was in no hurry to get back here. Before we boarded the plane in Atlanta that would eventually take us back to the Middle East they paraded us around the airport and everyone stood and clapped for us.

Everyone that I talked to that had gone on RnR before me said it had gone to fast. I didn’t think so at all. I did so much with my family and spent so much time with them it felt like a good while that I was at home. 10 months away from your wife and kids is a long ass time. They learn and grow so much its unbelievable. My son was talking so much and he is so smart, at the same time he is a bad little dude, he reminds me of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. My daughters are so smart it blows me away with the things that they learn in school wow. Well only 3 months left respectively and we will be home, god willing. I’m going to try and go be a Drill Sergeant when we get back so hopefully I can keep my ass in the states for a bit.
To my mother in-law thank you for letting us stay at your house and watching the kids for me and Kara, and to my Aunt Jen and Uncle Pete thank you for letting us into the parks and putting us up at the Resort, and watching the kids for us, thanks to my father in-law for everything that you do, your generosity never goes unappreciated and I will do my best to make it up to you thank you for all you do for our family. Thank you to everybody that made this RNR one of the great ones we love you so much.

I love you Kara and I can’t wait to come home for awhile and maybe take a trip just for us. Thank you for all you do raising our kids at home, most people don’t recognize the sacrifices that you make as a military wife. You are truly the best!
Deuce Deuce OUT!