There's something special about the moment when a parent comes home from a trip to see the family. Everyone is excited, there are smiles all around.
When I was younger I experienced this from a kid's perspective - my father traveled alot but when he came home there was a certain excitement about it. Sometimes he would bring us small gifts from wherever he had been but generally it was just fun to have everyone back in the same house. And it didn't matter what time it was - early or late, everyone stayed up until he got home.
Yesterday I experienced it from a parent's perspective - it wasn't me coming home this time around, but instead my wife, who was away for 4 days visiting a friend. Grace went along, Audrey stayed with me. Their 8pm arrival was delayed by weather so Audrey and I camped out on the couch and watched a movie. It wasn't until 11pm rolled around that I heard the garage door opening; Audrey had dozed off in my lap 20 minutes earlier.
But when Suzanne walked in the door it was as if Audrey hadn't been asleep at all - within minutes she was smiling and excited and we suddenly found ourselves in a circle on the floor playing Duck Duck Goose at Audrey's request. Even little Grace was in mix, sitting in our circle and probably only months away from being able to play the game herself.
All of us were happy to be back together.
