Yes, he's back; my son is back from his deployment. Returned this past Tuesday, in fact - February 20th - at 11pm in the evening.

Has it already been six months? Time surely flew by, but there were times it dragged on ponderously slow, too.

In either event, my son is home, my husband and I are very much relieved, and our daughter is back to teasing her big bro the way she did before he left.

He's filled out in muscle mass, since he adopted a weight-lifting regime in his spare time during deployment. He's matured and seen the world, and he's found a new appreciation for home. He's had some narrow escapes, too, with one occurring on his way home while still in Iraq. If not for the quick-minded response of the pilot shepherding the plane, we would be planning our son's funeral as I type. Too many have been lost, sons and daughters, though, too many on both sides, actually. I feel guilty that my son made it, but relieved at the same time. I guess this is natural to feel.

In any event, right now he's trying to recover from jet lag - sleeping! But, over the past couple of days, he processed back into civilian life, with the understanding that the military could call him back at any time.

And we just learned that the military - at least the Air Force - has lifted its restrictions as to how many times a reservist can be deployed. It has gone from two times to as many times as the military needs them. So, we're not out of the woods yet.

Obviously, our son's homecoming is the only thing of importance right now, and we are all enjoying having him home, of course. Just wanted to update the first and last journal entry, which I wrote only a couple of days before his departure. Bookending the event, so to speak.