Last December, I told you about the Chatsworth subdivision in North Raleigh, and how they had given comfort and support to their neighbors -- and their neighbors' son, who was serving in Iraq -- by filling their neighborhood with yellow ribbons.

Here's an update on the couple, Ed and Becky Ayers, and their son, Edward.

I'm glad to report that Ayers has returned home safely. A West Point grad and a second lieutenant with the Army's 101st Airborne Division, he flew in to Fort Campbell, Ky., on Sept. 15, along with hundreds of other returning soldiers, Becky Ayers reports.

Edward Ayers is currently stationed at Fort Campbell.

More than that has changed, though; Last weekend, Ayers got married. His bride, Ann Lee Cole, is also in the Army.

While it's a happy ending in some ways, in many ways it has been bittersweet. Ayers came home safely, but many of his fellow soldiers did not. In fact, a friend who was supposed to attend the wedding died shortly before it took place on Nov. 25. Many members of his division paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Ayers' wife currently is stationed in a different state -- Louisiana. And there's no guarantee he won't return to Iraq.

"You know, it's tough," Becky Ayers said about the life of a military family.

But she said the support from the community, including all the yellow ribbons, helped.

Becky Ayers said that he first saw the ribbons when he returned home on leave in May. Of the 85 homes in the subdivision, 80 had tied yellow ribbons to their mailbox, she said.

"It was just overwhelming... He was speechless," she said.

The neighborhood's support was unsolicited. It began when Dave Babson saw yellow ribbons on the Ayers' property and asked if they could fly some, too. Babson ordered 75 yards of ribbon and asked neighbors to join him. Most of them did.

That and other gestures of support "is what got him through," Becky Ayers said.

"My hope would be that everybody keeps our soldiers in Iraq in their prayers over the holidays," she said.

You can do more than pray, though. You can send Christmas cards and gifts to troops through Operation Support Our Troops, an organization that aims to improve the morale of our troops. For more information, visit www.west-point.org/ family/support-our-troops/.