NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Noah Clare, 3 years old, is back home in Gallatin. The past couple of weeks have been full of heartbreak, frustration and tears for Noah’s family. Friday was also full of tears. But this time, they were the happy kind as the little boy finally made it back to Tennessee.
Welcome home, Noah.
“Thank God,” said Noah’s mom, Amanda Ennis. “Thank God we are home. We brought that baby home.”
Around 6:30 p.m. Friday, Noah’s family anxiously awaited his arrival at BNA and ran to greet him when Amanda carried him out.
“My heart is overflowing with love and joy,” Amanda said. “I am so happy to be home with my baby.”
Friday’s long-awaited embraces were full of tears, hugs and kisses. Two weeks ago Friday is when Amanda met Noah’s father, Jake Clare, at the Sumner Station ER in Gallatin to drop Noah off with Jake for the weekend. That weekend visit turned into a nationwide search for the little boy.
“It has been exactly two weeks,” Amanda said. “I still can’t believe it all. It is one big nightmare. All of his curls are gone, and it hits me all over again.”
Amanda’s brother, Adam Ennis, has been by his sister’s side every step of the way on a mission to bring his nephew home.
“Watching Noah running toward his mom with his hands in the air is probably something that is going to stay with me forever,” Adam said. “I don’t think I have ever seen her that happy in my life other than the day he was born. I have never seen that joy in her eyes ever.”
“Thank you to the community for everything,” Amanda said. “I will never be able to thank everybody enough for what they did for us.”
She said that she is ready to rest at last and said she is holding onto Noah tighter than ever.
“I cannot wait to crawl into bed with my baby and watch cartoons and sleep in tomorrow,” Amanda said. “I am never letting go. I am never letting go.”
The family said people on their flight were crying when they learned who they were. Plus, reporters with WSMV, a sister station in Nashville, saw people at the airport begin to cry when they realized who Noah’s family was there to greet.