What a flood of happy comments, both on the blog page and privately, on Steve’s return from Iraq. I will see that he gets all the kind messages that are being sent his way. Although the war is highly criticized all over the place, I can see that most people are supporting the soldiers even when they don’t support the war itself.   Some have asked about Steve’s future plans. After a couple of work weeks getting organized back at Fort Benning, the unit will have 30 days leave. (The running joke is that the maternity wards in area hospitals circle the month of February on their calendars and prepare for a baby boom!)   Then as the rest of the unit goes back into training for their re-deployment back to Iraq in May 2009, Steve will be winding down his 20+ years in an Army career, preparing for retirement in the fall. Since he will be only 39, he will be looking for a civilian job and/or going back to college to finish the 2 years he needs to complete an undergraduate degree. But whatever he does, both he and his family will be glad that he will be doing it in Columbus, Georgia. Those 20 years full of long stretches of being separated will finally be over.   Brad and I will be flying to GA the end of this month and we look forward to seeing Steve for the first time in almost 2 years and visiting with the whole family.  

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