Kenny's Home from Iraq, April's Coming to Visit

What a relief! My younger brother Kenny is home from Iraq, he landed in Savannah on Sunday. As a CH-47 pilot for the Army, this is his 2nd tour to Iraq, and he's also done one in Afghanistan and 2 in Korea over the past 13 years. We're all so proud of him and his accomplishments, but yet he breaks our hearts on ocassion. My mom was really hoping he would be able to come for at least a short visit when he returned, but he doesn't have enough Leave time available at this point if he wants to come for Christmas, which I know is important to her also. Although I saw him in November when he came home for our younger sister Angela's funeral in Florida, Momma hasn't seen him since June 2007. With her heart attack in May, and Angie's death in November, I know mortality weighs strongly on our minds around here and you always want to make sure that you took every opportunity to spend time with people you love. Especially those that go out into battle . So maybe he'll call soon, I couldn't reach him and left him a voicemail, but hearing his voice on the recording felt nice.

On a happier note, my baby sister April is coming up from Ft. Bragg to visit me for a 3-day weekend this week. She's pregnant and due in October, so her mom (my stepmom, technically she's my half-sister) told me to be sure to get a good belly picture. I'm excited, as she and I are really working to build a relationship. We are almost 13 years apart in age, so we haven't always had alot in common, but as she's gotten older and is now becoming a mom, we're finding more common ground. And we both want to be a big support to our parents, and make them proud of us, which also brings us closer together.