Flashback Friday: Returned Missionary

Per my previous post, Clay (Cliff's little brother) came home from his mission last week. Marcy snapped this pic of him--first stop at home: Chico's Tacos. If you're from El Paso, you will understand (whether or not you're a fan). If you're not, well...there's really no way to explain the place. It's unique to El Paso, we'll just leave it at that.

When I saw this pic last week (Clay below), it brought back vivid memories of the day Cliff returned from his mission.

Cliff came home from his mission almost SIX years ago. Look how young he loooks (below)!!If you know our dating story, you know we dated prior to his mission. I was struggling with the decision of whether or not to be at the airport at his homecoming. We had written each other faithfully during those two years, but if it didn't work out (which everyone knew was a silly thought. DUH, we'd work out), I didn't want to taint that special memory. But, Marcy (his mom), insisted I be there, and so my mom accompanied me. It was a BIG deal. I even remember exactly what I was wearing.

So Cliff got off the plane, came down the escalator, and looked RIGHT at me. I was a little [very] nervous. He made his rounds, and headed to get his luggage. My mom and I were towards the back, and every third step, Cliff looked back to make sure I was there (hehe)...or just to see me (hehe).


He went straight to see one of our church leaders, to be officially released from his mission. Afterwards, my mom dropped me off at Chico's to have tacos with his fam. It was a little awkward, I'm not going to lie.

We were sitting on the same side of the booth, but we were both having a hard time with this little adjustment. Finally, Sheldon (Cliff's big brother) said something about how funny we were being, and Cliff got his arm, and pulled me in real tight and gave me a big hug. If you're not familiar with my church, and with missionaries, I'll just say that these boys have no real [physical] contact with girls for 2 years (i.e., no hugs, no kisses....even our letters steered clear of mushy stuff. ....they purely focus on their mission). Tanner and Jordan (my brothers), and my parents, and some friends, warned me that things might be a little awkward for a few days (Jordan returned from his mission just a few days prior). They all said Cliff would have to adjust to "real" life again, and not to be offended if he didn't show affection immediatly. So, when he pulled me towards him, and hugged me, I was shocked...but it felt so good, and so right. That's all it took. He broke the ice, and the awkwardness in the air dissapeared.

I won't say how [very] soon I got a kiss (and how shocked I was that he made the move so quickly), but it was great. Everything felt so right. AFTER the kiss, he said, "hmmm, you don't have a boyfriend, do you??" That night, after we kissed, we were an item again. Everything fell into place, and by the end of Christmas break (he came back a couple days into my freshman Christmas break), we knew we were getting married. People thought we were crazy, but when you know, YOU KNOW.

And now to think that we've been married over 5 years, have a 2 year old, and another one on the way.