My grandma told a story about when my mom's dad came home from the war. My Mom was only 1 or 2 years old when he left and 4 or 5 when the war ended. During that time, they would point him out in pictures they had on the wall to keep him as present in her mind as much as possible. So, he returns home finally and has my mom sitting in his lap and my grandma says to her "where's your da-da?" at which point my mom still sitting in her dads lap, points to the picture on the wall. My grandpa apparently teared up at this.
My great-grandfather spent four years in Africa during the war, leaving his wife and three children at home. The youngest was just a few months old when he left. He learned to speak Swahili so fluently that the army wanted him to stay on after the war as a liaison, but he just wanted to go home to his family. So he went home, walked into the house...and the youngest daughter screamed because she didn't know who he was.
They did build a close relationship afterwards, but the initial reunion was hard, after all those years away.
mydogargos on November 14th, 2024 at 20:04 UTC »
My grandma told a story about when my mom's dad came home from the war. My Mom was only 1 or 2 years old when he left and 4 or 5 when the war ended. During that time, they would point him out in pictures they had on the wall to keep him as present in her mind as much as possible. So, he returns home finally and has my mom sitting in his lap and my grandma says to her "where's your da-da?" at which point my mom still sitting in her dads lap, points to the picture on the wall. My grandpa apparently teared up at this.
Llywela on November 14th, 2024 at 21:13 UTC »
My great-grandfather spent four years in Africa during the war, leaving his wife and three children at home. The youngest was just a few months old when he left. He learned to speak Swahili so fluently that the army wanted him to stay on after the war as a liaison, but he just wanted to go home to his family. So he went home, walked into the house...and the youngest daughter screamed because she didn't know who he was.
They did build a close relationship afterwards, but the initial reunion was hard, after all those years away.
Clvssikh on November 14th, 2024 at 21:37 UTC »
Condolences to the soldiers that didn’t get to make it home to theirs