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Yes, I'm back in Harvest, but that's not what this title refers to.

At the airport at Colorado Springs when I was checking in, there was a young woman with two little kids right behind me in line. The older girl (maybe 4 years old) had a homemade sign that said, "Welcome home, SSG Daddy." Apparently, it is possible to get a gate pass these days (at least at the Colorado Springs airport) because they all made it to the gate I was departing from. There was another mother there with 3 kids, older than the first family, but the same reason. The second child from the family I saw at the bag check was an infant, and a little one at that. I wondered if this would be the first time SSG Daddy met his second child. The plane starts emptying. I don't know if it was intentional or just worked out that way, but the 3-child father was the first off the plane, and SSG Daddy wasn't far behind. Once the SSG came out, his older daughter ran up to him at the gate, still proudly clutching her sign. Mom held the baby and waited a little farther back. It was very touching. One of the people I was travelling with said it made her tear up. I made no such claim. (Note the careful wording.)

Also on the flight was a large-ish group of Pittsburgh firefighters. A couple were talking to one of the arriving soldiers, going out of their way shaking his hand. I wondered if the soldiers had been overseas (it's likely they had been). That would make the family moments even sweeter.

On the flight out, there was another young soldier and his wife and young daughter. Families and heroes, all over the place. More tomorrow (or not).