“I vewy happy.”
That was the honest emotion expressed by 3-year-old Luca upon seeing his dad, Travis Ferguson, after the Air Force Chaplain's seven-month deployment to the Middle East.
The meeting happened Jan. 28 at St. John Child Development Center in Seward. Luca knew his dad was coming home, but just not exactly when. The homecoming also included Ferguson's nine-month-old son, Levi.
“I was very ready to be back,” Ferguson said. “It's been a long seven months.”
Ferguson said he attended Concordia University, where he met his wife, Amy. They currently live in San Diego, California, but she returned to Seward during his deployment and stayed with her parents, Gary and Carol McDaniel.
Amy said the CDC helped make Travis' return special for her family.
“They've been like another family for us,” she said.
She said she shared Luca's feelings at the homecoming.
“I started crying right away,” she said. “It was a moment we've been waiting for for a long time.”
The family will spend a few weeks in Seward before returning to San Diego.
But more immediately to celebrate his dad's return, Luca said they were going to have “some ice cream, donut holes and lots of monkey bites.”
