After nine years of war in Iraq many who served overseas are coming home to their families, and that is no different for families in Lubbock.
Lou Deleon is no stranger to serving his country. He has served more than two decades in the military. He has been deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, but this time the roles were reversed. He stayed home with their two kids and his wife Sonia was stationed in Kuwait.
"This is what I wanted for Christmas was to have my wife home so I am going to get my present," he said. "Being in her shoes this time when I was gone two times and just raising the kids on her own it is difficult being a single parent."
"I am just glad she is coming home she will get to see me graduate she can get to see me play baseball," Domnic DeLeon, Lou and Sonia's son, said.
As Sonia landed back on West Texas soil she said her initial reaction to seeing her family was indescribable.
"Anxious...not knowing what to expect, happiness it is a lot of emotions bottled up altogether." "My kids are the ones that sacrificed the most both my husband and I are deployed all the time," she said.
"I missed her at the football games because she was always yelling at me, and I could hear her but my dad he is just quiet."
Even though Sonia was not in the stands cheering for her son, Smyer coaches sent her the games. She also said the reason her and her husband serve their country is not only for the principle of the matter, but also for those close to their hearts.
"Our kids, trying to get them out of this era, and they don't have to do what my husband and I are doing."
"Perfect couldn't ask for anything better," she said. As the DeLeon family is finally reunited this holiday season.
