He Came Home

He has always said there are some things he just
HAD to do.

He HAD to leave four children,
with their two mothers,
to go fight for Kuwait in Desert Storm.
Putting himself in the middle of a war that wasn't ours to begin with.
Saving lives and taking them in the same breath.
Months of absence.
Months of letters that were few and far between.
Months of prayers.
And our prayers worked.
He came home.

Decades later.
His children were grown but still babies in his presence.
And he HAD to go.
This time wandering in a jungle in search of a man,
a friend.
A wayward friend lost somewhere between death and deliverance
and my father,
was his salvation.
No phones in Cambodian jungles.
No contact.
Just prayers.
And our prayers worked.
He came home.

Now here we are again.
Four children.
Adult overcome with feelings of adolescents
with the news of yet another
adventure.
This time it's a "war".
This time it's a "hot zone".
"Don't worry," he says as we fight back impending tears.
"It's just something i have to do."
Three weeks.
Three weeks with no contact in the middle of the biggest war
of my generation.
Three weeks of no phone calls.
Sleepless nights.
Blank faces.
Three weeks of anticipation of a call we don't want to get.
Three weeks of prayers.
Prayers.
Praying until my hands think they have always been folded this way.
Closing my eyes during silent conversations with a Higher Power.
On my knees so long they feel like needles stabbing legs.
Going back and forth between begging God
to bring him back and threatening
silently
anyone who hurts him.

These prayers are all we have.
"One more time," we pray.
Let us say,
Just one more time,
He came home.

Reviews

[Nobody.]

Amazing.....that's all I've got: my mouth hung openand eyes watering at a perfectly told expression beyond my own sphere of experience, but well within the grasp of my understanding. This cut me to the core. Really beautiful and extremely difficult to digest....just as it should be. Totally amazing!

[Patient Poet (Yos)]

Beautiful story :)

[GTVile]

Wow, this is excellent. I can definitely appreciate the coming home sentiment. You really infused this with intense emotional expression and forced it down the throat of the readers. Very well written.

[Wolfwind Words]

This is a Masterpiece! A perfect mix of emotions and reality, history and faith.
As the words go by I'm pulled into a feeling of hope, that ends in a quiet pray, deep in reverence.
May they all come home.

Fantastic Ink!
Wolfie

[Misty Blue Eyes]

WOW this is so powerful....for a solder who does what he does with love and the "have to do it" part of it all ....always coming home but that one faitful time he comes home the wrong way you know....very good read