They have tried for the last 14 months not to think about it, but with the country at war, it was hard to avoid the constant reminders.
Finally, those who know Eric Freeman, 20, won't have to worry. He is home safe from his tour of duty in Iraq with the Army.
Wednesday, July 2, he arrived at Logan Airport, greeted by a flurry of loved ones, a surprise organized by his girlfriend, Stephanie Teichert , 20, and his mother, Ellen Freeman.
"We just wanted him to know he was loved," Teichert said.
Freeman, a Haverhill High School graduate, is stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington state (where Teichert recently moved to be with him) and officially arrived home from the war in early June.
But his return to Massachusetts two days before Independence Day had special meaning.
The excitement surrounding his return and the secret planning by his girlfriend and mother had everyone involved aching with anticipation, like children counting down to Christmas Eve.
"I can't wait to see him," said Ellen Freeman as she prepared for his arrival
Among the revelers who greeted Freeman and Teichert as they arrived in Boston were his two little sisters, Emily, 10, and Hannah, 7. Freeman also has an 18-year-old brother, Sean.
Freeman was deployed on April 7, 2007, and the entire time he was gone, Ellen Freeman and husband Alan, Eric's father, didn't talk about the war in Iraq.
"Isn't that strange?" Ellen Freeman said. "But I guess if we talked about it, we'd have to think about it."
Freeman was far from forgotten, however. Photos of him in and out of uniform have strategic places in the family's Haverhill living room. Even the desktop image on the family's computer is of Eric holding his daughter, Aubrey. Until getting off his flight at Logan, he hadn't seen 18-month-old Aubrey since he was last home on leave in August 2007. Despite being away from her father for most of her life, Aubrey's first words were still "Da-Da" and she can identify him in pictures.
As if it wasn't difficult enough to say goodbye when he was first deployed, it was even more painful for Freeman's loved ones to let him go after last year's two-week leave.
Teichert remembered going with his mother to see him off. Like a scene from a movie, as the couple, who met at Haverhill High, walked away from each other in the airport terminal, their eyes met once more and Teichert went running to her soldier. She leapt into his arms and cried.
"We grew up together. He was my first kiss, my first everything. Even as a friend, I can't picture anything without him. Just the thought of him not coming home, I can't even ..." said Teichert, her voice trailing off.
Also difficult for those back home during Freeman's deployment was the barrage of media coverage about the war in Iraq. Every report of a bombing or an American life lost was a reminder that Freeman was in harm's way.
"He always told us not to watch the news," his mother said.
"I couldn't," said Krista Brackett, 20, Freeman's best friend. The pair grew up down the street from each other in Haverhill. "I didn't get to talk to him as much, but we messaged each other a lot."
Although his time in Iraq was tough on the people he left behind, his mother, Teichert and Brackett all said that joining the Army was the best choice for him.
"He was not in the best place in his life (before he joined)," said Teichert. "He has made a complete (180-degree turnaround). He still talks to his old friends, but he's not that person anymore."
"I never thought he would join the Army," said Brackett, "but I'm glad he did. He's more mature and he values things he didn't before he left."
His loved ones worry, however, that Freeman hasn't escaped the war unscathed. Physically, he is fine, but there's no way of knowing what kind of emotional toll the war has taken.
But when he got off the plane at Logan on Wednesday, wearing his Army uniform, that fear wasn't even on the radar of his friends and family. They were just grateful and ecstatic that he is finally home.
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NEXT WEEK: What happened after Eric Freeman got off the plane? Read more about the Freeman family's Haverhill reunion in the July 10 edition of The Haverhill Gazette.
