I just realized that I haven't posted anything about Grady's homecoming, so I thought I had better do that. He arrived home on Friday, May 27th, the same evening as Olivia's High School Graduation! She had to be at CSI to line up and get ready for graduation at 5:45 and his plane was due in at 5:15, so she decided to skip the airport. This was such a difficult decision for her to come to, but looking back, it was the right decision.
Gus, Rudy, Nana and I were almost late to airport because his plane was 15 minutes early!!! As we were driving my friend Sheila, who was on her way to the airport also, called me to say that she was almost to the airport and she had just seen a plane land. Our airport is very small, so we were pretty sure that was his plane! We were behind her, so we were frantic that we were going to miss him getting off the plane! Gus drove faster than I've ever seen him drive. We ran in the doors and found Sheila and her family and our other friends, the Davis', anxiously awaiting our arrival! The plane was on the ground, but the passengers had not left the plane yet. Wow! We barely arrived on time. Lenzi was not so lucky! Oakley needed fed at the last minute, so she arrived about 10 minutes after Grady.
To say that that first hug was amazing is an understatement. He looked so good and it was so wonderful to see him after two long years. He was very thin but looked great! He hugged everyone, got a few pictures and then we were off to the college for Olivia's graduation! I know Grady must have been feeling so overwhelmed, but he was a good sport. He had to wear his suit and name tag because he wasn't released yet. He was able to see lots of old friends at graduation, so that was fun! I could tell he was tired--I think he'd been up for more than 24 hours and he didn't sleep on the plane. We kept bombarding him with questions and he was very patient.
It's hard to explain just what it was like to have a son gone for two years and then return, safe, older and more mature. We are extremely grateful for his safety while in Japan. We are also so grateful for all he learned. He loved his mission and for that, we are also so very thankful. He was an excellent missionary! Well done, Elder Bowman!
