Heather MacArthur's fiancé, Uxbridger Jack Wesselo, is a helicopter pilot recently deployed to Afghanistan. His “Kandahar Diary” appears alternately with Heather’s reflections on the home front.
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Heather MacArthur’s fiancé, Uxbridger Jack Wesselo, is a helicopter pilot recently deployed to Afghanistan. His “Kandahar Diary” appears alternately with Heather’s reflections on the home front. Capt. Wesselo returned home this past weekend.
FIN.
The excitement had been building for days, yet at the same time I found myself unable to fully realize how happy I was to know that Jack was coming home. I'd heard his return date, secretly marked it in my mental calendar and tried not to let it slip when well meaning friends, family and coworkers would ask: “When does Jack come home?” So many times before, the schedules have changed on trips at a moment's notice, with the expectation that plans change and accommodations must be made in our lives to account for the planning decisions of the Canadian Forces. It was with baited breath that I allowed myself to feel even a little bit excited, for fear (albeit I realized a form of imaginary thinking) that my excitement could somehow cause the powers that be to delay Jack's return home.
The night before I drove to Edmonton International Airport to pick up Jack was filled with chores! We've been renovating our basement with the intention of creating a sort of in-law suite for my sister and countless little details remained before the bathroom would be functional enough for household use. I tried not to think about how much I just wanted tomorrow to arrive that night. An excited text from a fellow military girlfriend (MGF) confirmed at 8:20pm local time that “THEY HAVE ARRIVED ON CANADIAN SOIL!!” followed by a tired but happy sounding Jack via phone to say that only one more night stood in the way of his return home.
I began the next morning by waking up before my alarm went off at 7:20 a.m. I joined a fellow MGF for a walk along the river valley with her two dogs on Ada Blvd. to get an active start to the day. I briefly returned home to decorate our lawn with miniature Canadian Flags to symbolically welcome Jack back to the land of the red maple leaf. As I was crouching on the grass, it began to snow - large, wet flurries that melted when they hit the ground and landed on my face in wet, cold clumps. It figures that in Edmonton an April return home would be with a white backdrop. In the end it turned out the flight would be delayed by 30 minutes, but we were soon off to the airport. Driving along, listening to the old school request brunch on the radio, I even managed to squeeze a quick dedication to Jack and his comrades to the tune of Aerosmith's “Walk This Way” (a selection made by the DJ, as AC/DC's “Shook Me All Night Long” didn't apparently qualify as an old school track!).
The minutes before Jack crossed through the clear security doors for arrivals were agonizing in their anticipation of finally seeing his face in person. Then I heard: “There's your man!” from a friend nearby, and I was off. I tried to maintain a self-controlled walk until at last I leapt into Jack's open arms while we hugged and laughed and cried. All the stress, loneliness, worry and fear of the past five months melted away as I realized that all I needed to do was grin and hold Jack's hand as we walked away from the airport, together at long last… that is, after placing the claim for his one piece of wayward luggage!
