Bringing our boy home

Day 10. It's been 10 days since Christopher died and this morning he will finally arrive back home. He is being escorted back home by his dear friend. A man who not only grew up in the same neighborhood, but joined the Army at the same time.

Christopher was due to come home on mid-tour leave on June 15 and we expected him home around the end of the month. At that time we were going to have a big bbq with us, his wife's family and the family of the friend mentioned above, the Haskins crew. This was going to be an event to not only welcome Christopher home but to see Austin off as he would also be home for his pre-deployment leave.

I'll face today with a heavy heart, but I have awaiting this day. I need to see my son. I can't begin to have closure without it. At that time I'll be able to start my new journey towards what will become our new normal.

I'll throw myself into a new direction since there will be much to do: I'll have to find someone to build a webpage for the scholarship foundation and try to find enough donations to get that going and than my most important task of helping Christopher's brother start to heal will begin.

I won't be back for a last a few days so please rest easy all and remember the most important lesson in all of this: Life is short. Love hard.