“On My Way Home”

Day 156

It was 13 years ago yesterday that my brother Josh returned from his LDS Mission, which was just two weeks after Colorado Springs was hit with “The Blizzard of ‘97” - yet there wasn’t a trace of the blizzard. It was a beautiful autumn day, a perfect day to welcome Josh back to Colorado. Here are some excerpts from my journal entry of this special day [Volume 19]:

Wednesday November 5th 1997,

10:11 pm - How does one begin to describe the feeling associated with an important reunion? I can’t find the word. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. So all I can really write is that I am so happy about Josh being home, so happy that I think it is possible to survive the day-to-day trials…

…The family banded together to put the final touches on the house before driving out to Denver. We put up a banner outside and one inside; and we tied ribbons on one of our trees outside. We wanted the place to look particularly special for Josh…

…As we left for Denver I didn’t feel nervous or overly anxious. But once there I felt these emotions full force. The family was in good spirits on the journey. We were closer, just at the thought of being reunited. The family realized we had an hour to waste before Josh’s flight came in; but after finding the gate he would be arriving at, and doing some exploring, we ended up having only about a half hour to wait…

…I found myself reminiscing about the day Josh left for L.A., and now he was leaving L.A. What would he look like? How would he react to seeing us? How would we react? When the plane landed Mom started to get emotional. She fought with herself, because she had decided she would not fall apart at Josh’s arrival. But the tears would not obey her - they needed to be set free…

…suddenly he was heading towards us. Mom was the first to embrace Josh, and it was such a touching, tender scene. Mom burst into tears; Josh seemed quite amused, but also touched. Then Dad hugged Josh, followed by Jordan, then Jaimee and lastly myself. Josh approved of my beard and he even joked a little about it. We collected ourselves so we could collect Josh’s luggage. But their seemed to be a problem when his luggage never turned up! Dad spoke with one of the airline staff members, and we soon found out that Josh’s luggage had not been lost - it had been sent ahead, safely stored away. What a relief to all of us, especially Josh! We had no idea that this would be the first of a handful of mishaps…

…We loaded up the van and left for home. Josh said he loved being in a place with snow(!) and clean air. Josh loved seeing mountains, and even went so far as to say how “clean” everything looked! Everyone was starving, so we went to Wendy’s. We talked and ate, then headed home. We had to drop by the Stake President’s office because Josh needed to be officially released. It started to be a hassle, as we couldn’t find a decent parking space. Eventually we did, only to have a difficult time finding the office building. The tension in the air seemed to dampen the joy of the day…

…After finding the office Josh and the parents met with the Stake President, then the whole family met with him, as he informed us that “he felt that the family of the missionary needed to be released as well.” Josh seemed very somber. He was told to remove his name tag - it was as if he were being fired…

…Now Jaimee was in the driver’s seat, and we were on our way home. Suddenly, the bottom of the van shuddered, feeling as if it had just fallen out. Jaimee had been driving just fine, and yet the van seemed set to crash. We pulled off the road into a parking lot, reeling from this jolt of misfortune. Dad decided we could drive to Sears, and on the way the car stalled - right on the interstate. Now we were trapped! Fortunately Jaimee had brought her cellular phone, which we promptly began to use. We called friends to get transportation home. When they came, Dad and me stayed with the van, which he successfully managed to drive to Sears. Once the van was dropped off we knew things were going to be OK. We had to wait for the family to come and pick us up; in the meantime, Dad was able to visit and squeeze in some work. Fun for him…

…At 7, we were all at Red Robin, enjoying a moment to eat and reminisce. It seemed so strange to see Josh sitting across from us; like an oasis in a desert, only this was the real thing. Welcome home Josh! You have returned with honor.