When He Came Marching Home
By Cheryl Lynne Brost
It started out as just another boring day. I awoke to my sister snoring. I had to wake her up because we had to hurry and meet my mom at the train station where she worked. We took the bus downtown and as we got off my sister was chatting nonstop about how much she missed our brother Tony. About 11 months before, my brother and his division were sent to Iraq. I miss him terribly, and only the people who have had this happen to them can understand. The wondering, the long nights, and waking up and wondering if your going to get that call. I comforted my sister and told her everything was going to be okay, even though I didn't quite believe it myself.
When my mom saw us enter the station she yelled to us. "We have to leave. Tony is coming home!" she exclaimed. My sister and I burst into joy. We couldn't enjoy that feeling for long because we had to hurry. There was going to be a party in Colorado Springs and we were the last family to be told,so we were running very late. It was going to be a five hour drive and we were worried we would not make it in time. It started to rain heavily. I asked my mom if we should turn back because it was raining so hard. She said, "I'm going to see my boy if we have to go through a snow storm." We finally arrived in Colorado Springs, and then we had to find the place where the party was. After about ten minutes we located the building. Only to discover we had missed the party. I started to worry because I thought this meant we wouldn't get to see Tony. The officer who told us we missed the party said we could see Tony at the barracks. The worry left my face and was replaced with relief. The officer told us to follow his car to the barracks. We got in the car and were following behind when I saw him. Walking on the side of the road was a man in uniform. I couldn't tell who it was at first then I realized who I was looking at. "Mom stop the car it's Tony!!" I exclaimed. We stopped immediately and ran out of the car. We all ran to hug him, almost knocking him over. Just like that, all those worries about him not coming home seemed like they weren't even worth worrying about. Now that he was back where he belonged. We were finally complete.
When my mom saw us enter the station she yelled to us. "We have to leave. Tony is coming home!" she exclaimed. My sister and I burst into joy. We couldn't enjoy that feeling for long because we had to hurry. There was going to be a party in Colorado Springs and we were the last family to be told,so we were running very late. It was going to be a five hour drive and we were worried we would not make it in time. It started to rain heavily. I asked my mom if we should turn back because it was raining so hard. She said, "I'm going to see my boy if we have to go through a snow storm." We finally arrived in Colorado Springs, and then we had to find the place where the party was. After about ten minutes we located the building. Only to discover we had missed the party. I started to worry because I thought this meant we wouldn't get to see Tony. The officer who told us we missed the party said we could see Tony at the barracks. The worry left my face and was replaced with relief. The officer told us to follow his car to the barracks. We got in the car and were following behind when I saw him. Walking on the side of the road was a man in uniform. I couldn't tell who it was at first then I realized who I was looking at. "Mom stop the car it's Tony!!" I exclaimed. We stopped immediately and ran out of the car. We all ran to hug him, almost knocking him over. Just like that, all those worries about him not coming home seemed like they weren't even worth worrying about. Now that he was back where he belonged. We were finally complete.
