Greetings family, friends and fellow runners,

After many, many days of travel, and about 15 hours of flight, Brian’s plane has landed in the United States! He is safely home from Iraq! The longest year of my life is over, and I can finally breathe again. He’ll be home in a few days, to be with us for Christmas!

When I started this journey, my goal was to run 6,436 miles – the distance from my home to where Brian was stationed in Iraq. I knew it was a lofty goal, and I’d have to work hard to acheive it. I never imagined, in all my dreams, that people like you would bond together to help me – a person you didn’t even know. With all of your support, we reached 179,982 miles!!! Yep, you read it right, one hundred seventy nine thousand nine hundred and eighty two miles! We’ve had 45 states and 6 other countries running with us to ‘bring Brian home’ – and we did it! We’ve had individual runners/walkers/bikers/skaters on our team as well as daycares, elementary school classes, high school track teams, and large corporations that have helped. It’s people like you that make this country strong and proud! You’ve helped this mother stay connected to, and feel closer to her son so very far away.

I wanted to thank all of you for the overwhelming support that you’ve given to Brian and I over the long year of his deployment. I don’t know how I would’ve made it through on my own. The donated miles, the birthday cards, the gifts, the emails, the thoughts and prayers that you’ve sent warmed my heart and gave me hope through the darkest of days. There are so many of you that have given your time and deligently reported your miles every week to help keep me focused on the end result. You kept my mind from thinking about the many horrors of war, and the danger that he was in every day. You kept my mind clearer, and my heart stronger. And for this, I cannot express enough my thanks.

Thank you for your continued support of our soldiers overseas! With God’s help, they’ll all come home soon.

~signed,

the happiest mother on the earth right now, Vivian