Homecoming Celebration!

A dear friend of mine, Garrett, was deployed to Iraq nearly a year ago. It was a shock to us all because he and I sat in our work kitchen talking about "how it will be a while before I get shipped off." The time came the following weekend when he was told he would be deployed in the summer months. At work, we had a mini celebration with breakfast tacos and then another celebration with cake to make sure Garrett knew he would be missed. He left in the May-June time frame of 2007 to go through some training in California and North Carolina, then he was off to Iraq. After he left, his sweet girlfriend, Leah, was left behind (if you will). She had moved in from Louisiana to be with G and now he was leaving her (because he had to). I made sure to always be there for her...when she was crying she would IM and say "I am crying right now." I would always try to make her smile and send me IMs that said LOL. Leah and Garrett's family were sooo very strong during the deployment. While he was in Iraq, it was nervewracking because you just never knew what was going on 100% of the time. He would get on IM and not really communicate that much (we are sure he was told to keep secrets, hehe.) BUT, Leah and the Brazell's made it through the year long deployment. Garrett and his unit returned to Austin safely on Saturday. I was fortunate to be there for his return and it will be something I remember forever. There were newborn babies there that had never met their fathers, fiances that were planning weddings without their men by their side, and lastly family and friends that were overjoyed with the homecoming of their marines. Welcome Home Men! =)