There was a happy homecoming at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks Saturday morning as 64 Connecticut families were reunited with their loved ones. The Connecticut Army National Guard 143rd CSSB returned from Kuwait.
Proud music and proud families: Is there anything better than a troop homecoming the week of Christmas?
The Michaud family from Glastonbury said goodbye to Lori back in February for her first deployment. Her unit was sent to Kuwait on a support mission. During this period, Lori has been just a voice on the phone or a face via the Internet, but in a little while Lori the real-person would be back in their lives. And just in time for Christmas Eve.
“We go to my sister Patty’s. She is Lori’s aunt,” said Linda Michaud, Lori’s mother. “And we eat first, lots of food. Everyone brings something and tons of desserts, food galore. And then we go into her living room, big space, and all the kids go first with their presents and then the adults.”
Lori’s sister, Nicole Feldman, made a sign, and while crafting it at 3 in the morning, her thoughts drifted to a sister tradition.
“I was thinking how we always stay up late and wrap the presents and the later it gets, the sillier we get,” Feldman said.
The Michaud family, along with many others at Bradley, had been waiting for this moment for 10 months.