Living in the now, from now on

Thousands of miles from the war zone that almost killed Jeremiah Homuth, his family now lives in the moment.

The Huntley clan knows too well that a moment is all it takes to change life forever.

It's been 18 months since the former high school football standout's parents got the call that their middle son had been critically injured in Afghanistan. Their lives turned upside down.

The young soldier lost his right arm, suffered extensive damage to his left arm and faced a year of grueling rehab. Six months after his joyous journey home, where he was greeted with a parade that still brings a smile, his mom says everyone's doing well and, yes, living life one moment at a time.

"That whole year really taught me to live as I can today and not worry about tomorrow," Sandy Homuth said. "Our family motto is still 'one day at a time,' living in today and focusing on the moment.

"Life is so fragile," she added. "Things we used to worry about, we don't worry about anymore. We all stay in the moment and not try to control everything that happens, because you just can't. You lose so much time trying to make everything perfect."

Life's actually pretty close to perfect, anyway, from her view.

All three sons are home for the holidays. And they're doing great.

"Thank God. Thank God," she said. "We weren't sure what was going to happen."

Jeremiah just completed his first semester at Western Illinois University in Macomb, where he's studying kinesiology. He hopes to be a physical education teacher and very much wants to coach football.

The challenges are sometimes great, his mother said, as the former football star adjusts to life with limitations. The war injuries were severe and mean continual daily adjustments.

But that didn't stop him from carrying a full course load and living independently on campus, where he shares an apartment with a close high school buddy.

"Things are gong pretty good," Jeremiah said. "I'm just trying to do my best and get my life back on track."

He, too, definitely lives in the moment and suggests others do as well.

"It's all we can do," he said. "Who cares about tomorrow because, obviously, this may never come. … You never know what's going to happen.

"That's how I was over there," Jeremiah said of his time in Afghanistan. "I wasn't thinking I would be killed or get blown up."

And he's hoping every soldier over there, especially his former unit now stationed in Iraq, follow that mantra.

"You have to live life in the moment there … There's enough other dangers," he said of the fellow soldiers who are often in this thoughts.

Older brother Josh also is home after several tours on active duty. He's now working in Huntley and will go to McHenry County College in January before transferring to Eastern Illinois University.

And youngest brother Jake will start at Western Illinois in January. He was just finishing high school as his parents -- dad Jeff is an Elgin firefighter -- commuted back and forth from Jeremiah's bedside.

It's a time they can't get back, Sandy said, but a time that taught them what to value. "It's so important to be available to one another and to be comfortable."

Sometimes the Homuths just hang out together, relaxing and laughing over shared memories and planning for the future. They don't talk much about Jeremiah's injuries or the struggle to heal, but they all know the journey the family's been on.

It's made them value every moment together even more.