USS Kearsarge Homecoming | OpLove - Judith Soule – Portrait Photographer

November 7 was a cold rainy day. The kind of rain that is just hard enough to making doing anything out of the house a pain in the bum unless you’re bundled up with jackets and an umbrella. The USS Kearsarge homecoming was scheduled for that morning, but there was no way a little bit of bad weather was going to stop loved ones from welcoming home all the sailors aboard this LHD 3! With the ship being gone for over 8 months, I doubt anything could have held these families back from wanting to reunite with their service members! I was lucky enough to be able to take photos for the Covarrubias family! Earlier this year, Cynthia and I got together to do an already gone session with her three kiddos, so it was wonderful to be able to see them all again, as well as getting to meet members of their extended family.Waiting for sailors to get off the ship can be one of the hardest things because you can see them right there, but you can’t get to your loved one yet. So you have to find ways to keep yourself entertained during the endless waiting (like these two!). When I asked what she missed most about having her daddy gone, Cynthia’s oldest daughter Cianna said that it was just having fun together, by playing restaurant where she would cook for him (her favorite thing to make him is hotdogs 🙂 ).
But after all those months of waiting and wishing he was back, the time was finally here and we headed over to the pier to try and spot the most important sailor who was walking off the ship. This was no easy task when everyone was dressed exactly the same. But everyone had their eyes peeled for that one special guy! And when Cynthia’s eyes finally did light on her husband, nothing was getting in her way as she rushed to him and her arms were finally able to wrap around him once again. Once mommy had her turn to get some loving, the kids were the very next ones in line, jumping on daddy and hugging him so tightly, as if they never wanted to let him go. Now that daddy is home, life is going to be a lot smoother for Cynthia and her family. Aside from having him back to help with the kiddos or getting dinner ready, she says it will just be wonderful to have her other half home.