Military homecoming kisses

Confession: I got a little emo while perusing this photo gallery of soldiers' homecoming kisses.

I've never greeted someone directly after a deployment. However, I've heard many friends talk about the rush of emotions accompanying that moment's embrace.

I imagine there must also be a little stress and pressure -- to seem happy enough, excited enough, grateful enough.

Probably my closest parallel is when I greeted my boyfriend at the airport after he'd been in Thailand for two weeks.

I know a two-week vacation hardly matches a months-long deployment, but it's all I've got.

Anyway, I got all dressed up and planned this massive embrace...only to wait around for two hours because his flight was delayed. Then, when his flight finally arrived, he was too tired to care about what I was wearing.

Looking back, I blame the inevitable stress of traveling.

In the moment, however, I was incredibly frazzled -- mainly because I thought the "I missed you" message wasn't coming through clearly enough.

I guess in any homecoming, it's best to remind yourself that the moment is, well, so much more than a moment.

That's why you're so happy, right?