For more than a year, she lived on peanut-butter sandwiches, bottled water and hope. Now Regina Tanner's biggest challenge is remembering what time her daughter, Rebecka, gets out of school.
"The last time I saw her, she was in kindergarten," says Regina, watching the spirited second-grader play solitaire on the family computer. "There's a lot of catching up to do. She doesn't like Barbies any more, she doesn't like orange juice. There's a lot for me to get used to."
Regina, 31, recently returned to West Jordan from a 14-month stint in Iraq with the Army Reserves' 172nd Medical Logistics Battalion. Stationed at a dusty, abandoned Iraqi air force base, where she coordinated the delivery of medical supplies, Regina learned to get used to bland cuisine, cramped sleeping quarters and temperatures that often topped 125 degrees.
Living in a pizza oven, though, was nothing compared to adjusting to the whims of an energetic 7-year-old.
"I'm thrilled to be back — nothing is more difficult than leaving your family," says Regina. "But most people don't realize what an adjustment it is when a soldier comes home. It takes a long time to get back in the groove of the life you left behind."
Hoping to share a few stories about her experiences in Iraq and what it's like to jump into a new routine back in Utah, Regina wanted to share a Free Lunch of deli sandwiches and chips at the spacious West Jordan home her husband, Shane, bought just before her homecoming.
On the day we met, American flags were fluttering on almost every lawn in Regina's neighborhood in memory of the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"When that terrible day happened, I knew I'd be getting a call at some point," says Regina, who joined the Army Reserves when she was a senior in high school. Her husband, who is also in the Reserves, was sent to Afghanistan, leaving Regina's mother to look after Rebecka while both parents were overseas.
"For 14 months, I learned about Becka's first day of school, her birthday, holidays and homework through e-mail," says Regina. "As a mother, that was heart-wrenching, but I was in good company. There were a lot of other moms in my unit. We all cried together and supported each other."
Sleeping in a tent with 22 other soldiers, Regina often went days without a shower and spent most nights tossing and turning in the withering heat. During convoys to deliver medical supplies to other units, she always felt sick to her stomach, wondering if she'd make it home alive to see her family again.
When that day arrived, she never imagined it would be such an adjustment. "Because I'd been alone for so long, sharing my life again and sharing my thoughts was difficult," she admits. "I was a platoon sergeant for 40 people. I came home, and without thinking about it, I was still ordering people around. My husband kept having to remind me not to be so bossy."
Suddenly doing without a support network of other soldiers isn't easy, she says. "These people became my family — we all looked after each other. I worry about them a lot. So many people in the Army don't have a family at home — the military is their life. I wonder what will happen to them."
As for Regina, she's enjoying the simple moments: Helping Rebecka with her homework, going out to dinner and taking hot baths for the first time in a year.
"When I go jogging, I look at how beautiful the mountains are and I think, 'How come I never noticed all this beauty before?' " she says. "I guess it takes leaving everything behind to appreciate what you have. It was a big lesson. I'll never take anything for granted again."
Have a story? Let's hear it over lunch. E-mail your name, phone number and what you'd like to talk about to freelunch@desnews.com. You can also write me at the Deseret Morning News, P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.