homecoming...

so, i feel bad if you were lured by my title hoping to read about adventures of knit ties, wrist corsage's and slow dancing to "you're the inspiration"... because that's not the kind of homecoming i'm talking about.

forgive me for the unintentional bait and switch.

the homecoming, of which i refer, and which i celebrate has nothing to do with returning to campus, or visiting your old college bar haunts, or trying to figure out how to gently break it to your former college friends that as adults, you absolutely have nothing in common and could care less about how many steps keegan took last week....THIS is the homecoming of a son, a father, a husband, a friend and a brother...my brother....who has been serving in iraq and in ten days...he comes home.

jeff, my older and only sibling, is a JAG (judge advocate general) or lawyer for the united states air force. his job is to serve the legal needs of the military community on whichever base he is assigned to for a three year time period. his position has taken him and his family from chicago to england to oklahoma and texas. in his most recent assignment, jeff has been given a different opportunity. as the top litigator of his graduating military law class nine years ago, he was given the chance to return to the air force JAG school and teach military law to up and coming JAG's at maxwell air force base in montgomery, alabama. (kind of like top gun for those of you with a pop culture tooth) jeff, being charismatic, passionate and witty has been an excellent teacher and has razzle-dazzled his students for the last year and a half as he and his family have learned to adjust to the slow, laid-back pace of america's civil rights capitol. however, eight months ago we were shocked to hear that his "number had come up" to deploy to iraq for the war efforts. though in active military duty, we wondered what in his law school training qualified him to serve our country in the middle east.

for the last six months, he has been representing our country in its efforts to stabilize iraq. his job has been to work with other legal personel, as well as iraqi judges and lawyers and teach them how to try cases democratically...taking part in creating history, you could say. for six months we've called, e-mailed, worried, cried, supported, encouraged and prayed for him and his family as he has served in baghdad, the most dangerous place in the world, separated from his wife of fifteen years and their five young children.

as his only sibiling, i've documented all of his advenutres and filed away all his e-mails and have kept a visual reminder of each day he has been gone, counting down the days until his return.

the calendar today indicates that in TEN DAYS HE COMES HOME.

i raise my glass to all the troops that have served in this war effort... but to my brother, major jeffrey g. palomino of the united states air force, i'm proud of you, i love you and i can't wait to see you again.