Being home with family for the holidays is especially meaningful for the men and women who serve in the military. When deployed, they can miss out on those Christmases.
In Fuquay-Varina, a former Marine was making the most of Christmas 2018 in a beautiful new home, customized for his family by Operation: Coming Home, a service of the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County to provide homes to wounded warriors.
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Nate Rogers and his twin brother, Matt, were serving in Iraq when Nate's vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device.
"I remember I was getting ready to take off my helmet to stop and pull over for a second. Bam! Everything just went black, and I came to back at the hospital," Rogers remembers.
His brother, who wasn't hurt, took a picture of the blown up Humvee. Rogers now wears that image of the crumpled vehicle as a tattoo on his arm.
"It kind of sticks with you," Rogers said.
Fast forward 13 years to the September celebration that welcomed Nate Rogers and his wife, Elyse, into their new Fuquay-Varina home. It has automation he can control and wide spaces around the kitchen island just in case he ever has to use a wheelchair.
"I love to cook, so that's an awesome thing for me," he said.
As the Christmas season took hold, Nate Rogers was finally feeling at home. On Tuesday, a special moment made it all the more real.
"This kind of solidifies it," he said, "having them open their presents on Christmas morning and know this is our home."