Christmas 2016 we weren’t sure if our soldier was going to be able to come home. He told us at the time he’d know for sure on the 20th if he was going to get leave. I texted him Wednesday and he told us his leave wasn’t approved, and that he couldn’t even get a pass because so many people were already on leave.
We were bummed, but Diana was an Army dependent for 18 years, and I was in for three, so we knew that the mission always came first.
A few days before Christmas, Erica and her Best Friend came over with Best Friend’s son to visit for a while. After they had been here for a bit, Erica announced that BF2 and BF3 were on their way over. No big deal. They’ve come over in the past, and It’s been a while since we’ve seen them. Plus, you know, Christmas.
There was a knock at the door, Eli opened it quickly, and I heard “BF2! ADAM!”
Yeah, he’d pulled a fast one. As soon as his leave had been approved, he’d booked a flight from Wichita to Tulsa, and arranged for BF2 and BF3 to pick him up at the airport. BF1 was apparently in on it as well, and had to keep the secret from Erica, who was not only her BF but her roommate!
I couldn’t help but remember when I did this to my own parents during Basic Training. I was still in training around Christmas, when all of the training units shut down for a week. I gave Mom and Dad a different flight number and arrival time but came in on an earlier flight. It was a pleasant surprise, I thought. Karma is a real thing, I guess.
So we missed having everyone together for that Thanksgiving. But we were whole for Christmas. A happy memory.
Merry Christmas, y’all.
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Originally published on Bob Mueller
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