Soldiers and their families say homecoming after deployment not easy

Published: 2007-04-23

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- When Heidi Sellars was preparing for her husband, Army National Guard Capt. Steven Sellars, to come home from Iraq in 2005, people often said things to her like, "Aren't you just thrilled?" and "It's going to be so great." However, she was not looking forward to the homecoming. "I know that sounds really sad," she said, but "I just knew it was going to be a challenge." For a year and a half, she had been a single parent. She had gone through an at-risk pregnancy and left her job to stay at home with her son, Ryan, 3, and her new daughter. Heidi Sellars, 32, said she expected the transition of having her husband, also 32, back home to be difficult, and it was. They participated in the Army National Guard's family reintegration programs and turned to their own families for support. If their parish, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, had offered support, they would have utilized that, as well, they said. The St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese is co-sponsoring a Minnesota Army National Guard seminar May 2 for clergy and pastoral leaders to address issues faced by veterans and families after the soldier's return home.

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