A year ago today...

I can hardly believe its been a year since Troy came home to us! In some ways it seems like yesterday and in some ways it seems like he never left. This past year has FLOWN by but the whole year he was gone was long and hard. I am so grateful we are here now and not 2 years ago saying goodbye.

In the last year he got a job, quit the job to go back to school, we bought a house and we are expecting baby #3. So many adventures and blessings in our life. I remember when we hit the 6 month mark of him being home and thinking I should have blogged about my feelings. I can honestly say a year later that I am grateful for the experience even though I NEVER want to do it again. I think we have adjusted well to being a family again. Troy still struggles sometimes with things PTS. Sometimes it will flare up in very odd situations and sometimes I can predict it. It has helped so much for him to be done at the jail. About 3 months ago Troy shared in depth some stories with me of things that went on over there. In his mind he had already told me and this was the first time I was hearing them. Some of them were painful to hear and they made me cringe. I cried, he cried and it has been healing for the both of us. He left the green zone almost every day and was always the lead truck. Many times he was protected and many times he would hear or see things that knew were from the other side. I can not wait to thank those on the other side who protected my best friend and the father of my children. How do you thank somebody for bringing him home safe to his family??? My prayers have been of gratitude especially today as I reflect back on that year.

We have been blessed in so many ways. Our transition to being a family again wasn't all peaches and cream but we were truly blessed. There was a statistic thrown out at one of our reintegration meetings when they got back that around 40% of marriages that go through a deployment do not last and it was proving true for the 116th. We had 2 friends get a divorce after and I have to say that it surprised me both of them. I am so thankful that we were both willing to work through whatever issues came up.

We will be celebrating tonight! I hope we can make it a tradition on September 17th to ALWAYS celebrate and express our gratitude that he came home! Thank you to everybody who prayed for us and thought of us! I will be forever in your debt for doing so!

http://thecarterfamdamily.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-homecoming-pictures.html

You can click on the link above and see a few pictures of Troy coming home!