Everywhere I look are signs

The crying started at the hospital.  It was a sad goodbye. All of them hugged him like they were hugging their best friend, not their patient. They kept telling us that we were going to be back, but we all knew it wouldn't be the same. Then Heath did something that took my breath away. He WALKED out those double doors, just like the last 80 days never happened. The same doors that he was whisked through on a stretcher with his life in peril.   I knew he would, but actually seeing it come true was just unbelievable.  He turned to the nurses, lifted up his arms and waved goodbye.  As he walked down the hall, my heart couldn't take it any more.  In that same hall, I had cried so many tears and said so many prayers, along with my family.  It was just too much to hold in.  I hadn't cried many tears in front of him, but now they were nothing but tears of joy.

The ride home was filled with so much anticipation.  The world looked different than it had before.  The landscape was painted with beautiful hues of fall and the air was filled with a chill.  The interstate was filled with cars passing us by.  We were taking the slow ride to home. As we approached Sarepta, the reality hit me.  He was coming home.  It was here.  Then we saw the first sign telling us we had 2 miles left. The signs were proof positive that we are honored to have some of the best friends people can have. Some of them were encouraging, some funny, all were heart warming.   The signs continued on and on until we reached Crow Lake Road.  Our caravan pulled on to the street and we were greeted by more people than we could count.  Men, women, children were there waving and cheering.  It was again overwhelming.  Their anxious faces scanned the cars to finally see Heath in person.  They were almost as happy as we were.  Our friends had made his homecoming just as special as a hero's welcome.  The sweet faces I saw wiped away tears and smiled through cheers.  My heart almost burst. Heath's own driveway held the best spectators.  Gunner and Paige jumped up and down with little excitement filled faces.  If you have never heard joy expressed, then you should listen to the squeal of 2 children greeting a man that has been gone from home way too long.  These little things in life are what matter. 
I watched as Heath walked to greet his welcome crew.  The gigantic grins and handshakes were abundant.  The gentle hugs he received from men and women brought a tear to my already crying eyes.  Then, he did the first thing he said he was going to do.  He just walked around and looked at everything.  I watched him as he looked around, looking at things as if it were the first time he had ever seen them. His horses even came to the fence to greet him.  They nodded and brayed as if to say, "Welcome home my friend".

After the crowd finally thinned, he stepped into his house for the first time in over two and a half months.  We were a finally a family again- right where it all started.  Ironically, Heath lives in the same house he and I grew up in. We had come full circle.  That night I watched something- that if you didn't know our circumstances- would seem so normal to anyone else. Heath sat around his own dinner table and ate dinner just like he had done many many times before. He laughed and talked with his family. He listened to Gunner and Paige tell about their day at school. Then, he went and sat in his recliner to watch the 6 o'clock news.
Heath's journey been so very hard and he has endured more than one man ever should. But then again, we wouldn't know how sweet life sometimes is and how it can be gone in a flash.  We have learned to cherish the good days and still praise Him when they are bad. 
Tonight when you go home and kiss your wife or your husband and your kids hello after a long day at work and you sit down for supper -  remember that somewhere there is someone in a hospital wishing he could be in his recliner watching the 6 o'clock news.  And a family by his side praying to get him back there. 

'Til Tomorrow

To Lyndi: Thank you for the welcome home.  I'm sure you will always let him call you "Aunt".

**Pictures by Sheila Robertson and Andrea Jones Neal - thanks girls!