Home from Lebanon

In case y'all missed it, the Charlotte family I wrote about last week made it home from Lebanon. The story is here. (My colleague Tim Funk, who works in our Washington bureau, hustled to Pennsylvania on Saturday to interview Julia Blevins-Mercabi and her family.)

A few bits that didn't make it into the story:

-- Julia and her family wanted to thank the Marines who helped them in Lebanon and flew them on a helicopter to Cyprus. The family had several frustrating days trying to get out of Lebanon, but the Marines were helpful and generous.

-- The plane home had a three-hour layover in Ireland. It was late, and most of the airport was closed, but Julia and several others went looking for pay phones. But all the phones took euros, and -- having just come from Lebanon -- nobody had euros. So Julia couldn't call home.

-- Julia and her husband, Mazen, had to leave most of their luggage behind -- all they took was diapers, wipes and milk for their 15-month-old daughter, Mona-Kate.

Lots of us wonder what we'd take along if we had to grab a bag and go. When you have a child, there's not much doubt.