THERE can be no more joyful moment at the conclusion of any war than when returning soldiers are re-united with their loved ones back home.

Nothing speaks more powerfully about the human condition - about our deep-rooted need for love and stability in a world that is at best uncertain and dangerous.

In the case of returning York paratrooper Chris Watts, there is added poignancy. For the first time, he will be able to cuddle his baby daughter Olivia - born to Chris's wife Susan while he was fighting in the Gulf.

Everyone in York who will not share in the joy of this family at being together again at last.

Whatever your opinion of the war itself, soldiers such as Chris went about doing their duty, in the face of the most extreme danger.

They did their stuff.

But Chris at least had the comfort of knowing his wife and baby daughter were safe and well. For Susan, there could have been no such certainty about her husband.

It is difficult to imagine the anxiety and stress she must have been under as she prepared to give birth to Olivia, with her sister Laura at her side, not her husband.

For Chris, Susan and Olivia the pain of being parted will hopefully soon be forgotten. Family life will be able to return to normal.

Efforts must continue to ensure that in Iraq, the lives of other families, Iraqi families no different from Chris, Susan and Olivia other than by the accident of where they were born, can soon return to normal too.

But for now let's just celebrate the fact that for this one York family at least, the uncertainty and pain of war is over.

Updated: 11:33 Wednesday, April 30, 2003