Best Day of my Life

Here's another guest post that I did for Allie that I never posted on here.  I know almost all of you have heard the story of the deployment Skip and I lived through many years ago, but it never gets old to me:)  And with this Christmas season upon us, it's a nice little reminder of all we have been through and all I am thankful for:)

As you know, Skip and I have been married for 7 1/2 years now....married for 9 1/2.  Emmy and Charlie are the two sweet little girls who complete our family.

But the only reason we were able to get married and have these girls is because of what happened on February 26, 2005.  The day Skip came home from Iraq.

When Skip and I met back in 2003 he was in the police academy, as well as the Marine Corps Reserve.  He drilled out of Pennsylvania and was an MP.  We were in the early stages of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and sure enough Skip's unit was called to active duty.  After some training in California in the early summer of 2004 and our engagement just three days before he left, I sent my man off to war.

The time he was gone was total hell for him and exhausting for me.  I had sent other friends and family members off to the desert before, but when it's the man you want to spend the rest of your life with, everything changes.  I really only survived that deployment with help from my family and friends and of course my Battle Buddies...my Marine's Girls.

Month after long month passed and before we knew it dreary February was winding down.  I cautiously started to get excited {because as we all know, until their boots are on the ground nothing is set in stone}  I got a phone call when he was in Kuwait {PTL!} and another the night of the 25th when he was on a layover in Germany.  Then the morning of the 26th came.  After barely any sleep, my girls and I headed over to the base to wait for our men.

I cannot even describe to you the absolute joy I felt when that plane touched down.  And after what felt like FOREVAH the door opened and there was my fiance, my Skip walking {practically running} towards me. 

Skip is behind the guy who is waving

I wanted to scream and cry and never let him go all in the same moment.  When he held me in his arms it simultaneously felt like he had never left and been gone for years.  The sense of relief though was ridiculously overwhelming.  He was safe, he was home, he was okay.

Skip finished up his contract and got out of the Marines the following year.  We were so lucky to only go through one deployment together, but we were even luckier that he came home.  Every year on February 26th we watch he video we have of his homecoming, hold each other a little tighter, say I love you a few thousand more times, and thank God we are able to live the life we dreamed.