Happy

The day after hearing the news that Joel was on his way home, I received a text from the dodge ball friend, who said she'd been whistling and smiling all day thinking of our family. She said she even had two people say to her, "I didn't know you were a whistler."

That's the kind of friend she is.

At night, Grace goes to bed, and she is not kept awake by her anxiety or sadness; she knows her dad will be gone to work when she wakes and that he will be home each night. Her mind can finally rest as it should at night.

Nathan had ordered a movie ("Forrest Gump") from Netflix and we had planned on watching it Monday evening after we were all home from school/work. But then his coach asked him to help out with the middle school swimmers and I remembered that I had yoga class...so Nate said, "We can just save it for tomorrow...watch it then..." And it hit me that, yes, we could save it for tomorrow. It was a revelation. For three years, when we saw Joel, we lived our lives in hyperdrive, like we had to fit it all in in such a tiny amount of time. Often, even something as simple as figuring the logistics of watching a movie together, was not so easily solved when we had to factor in other activities that were maybe higher up on our list. Now, we could all...relax a little.

Since Saturday night, I've been going to bed with my husband and, like Grace, I am not left awake for hours, unable to turn my racing mind off, finally, I can sleep, too.

And Joel, he comes home from work and calls out: "He--LLO--- FAMILY!" Just like he did before he ever left.

And we are grateful and happy.