Cups and Fences

There is a tradition here (I am sure at other military installations as well) of decorating a fence with plastic cups (or really expensive but genius specialized plastic pieces) when a boat or ship comes home from deployment.  It's cool to see the different designs and even cooler to see them go up.

The spouses and families gather on both sides of the fence.  They stand on step ladders, popping pieces into place.  One person clutches the instructions in one hand and directs with the other.  Children play in the grass near-by.  People take breaks and drink water and snack on goodies while talking pier-fashion and homecoming meals.  Smiles are only interrupted by the realization that the rows are off by two and that means starting over.
Putting up the cup sign means their loved one is coming home soon.  There are strict rules about how soon ahead of the return the signs can go up.  Most spouses and families are down to counting hours instead of days at the point when the signs go up.
Every time I drive by and see a sign going up, or a sign that has just been put up, I get butterflies in my stomach.  It seems silly, especially when I may not even know anyone associated with that particular boat or ship.  But I get them.  And all the memories of Andy's last homecoming come right back.  The sleepless nights right before his return.  The nervousness. The planning.  The giddiness.  I look at the spouses working on the sign and know they are feeling some of the same things.  I look at the kiddos playing in the grass while their parent works and get all teary eyed that their family is going to be whole again soon.
I get excited for all those people.  I am a nerd, I know.

It will be a while.  A long, long, long, long, long while (or at least it feels that way today) before we get to put our cup sign up.  But, it's just one of those fun traditions we all get to anticipate doing.  Here is a pic of our current boat's fence sign:

And, on a happy, happy, happy note, one of my dear friends got to have her husband's boat's cup sign put up a few days ago.  My heart was so happy to see that sign on the fence when I drove by!  SO happy!