After deployment, our Marines come home. Our hearts sing and we fly into their arms. We can only hope the changes wrought inside them are ones that will grow and meld with the family, slide quietly to the side; allow us to sing and meld with our children, husbands, fathers, sisters and brothers. We can hope to be whole again.
And what have they missed, the first teeth, the first school, the children growing and expanding as our Marines expand their knowledge of the world. Their service, their hearts, their own childhoods all creating turmoil within.
What else will they still face? Will they be greeted by the world at large? Shunned? Accepted? Thanked?
And they will continue coming home ... human. Some will come whole, some not. Some to fight on, some to stop. We will take them in our arms and our hands will feel their faces, hair, shoulders. There will be tears and happiness and sometimes loneliness. But for now ... they are home and that is what our smiles wait for. We will welcome.
Sometimes we just wait.
