Despite technical and weather delays, families in North Texas didn’t let their holidays be ruined. People from near and far came to hug their loved ones and eagerly await their arrival.

Grace Bradbury said the journey, with all its obstacles, was worth it to return to North Texas. Her family greeted her with flowers and a handwritten sign.

“It was a very long morning,” she said. “I slept about three and a half hours last night. This morning it snowed on the way to the airport and then I sat for a long time and then I sat on the plane for a long time.”

She now lives in New York. Still, she agrees with the song’s lyrics that say there’s no place like home during the holidays; and coincidentally her birthday.

“My whole family is here and I can go out to eat and just have a nice birthday and a nice Christmas,” she said.

There were a lot of people milling about at the arrival gates, eager to see their loved ones. For some it is a once-in-a-lifetime reunion. Hector Rubio’s parents flew in from El Paso.

“It’s something very special. They travel once a year and at Christmas we decide to get together,” he said. “We will be spending time with my brother in Fort Worth and it should be a good time. They’re getting older, we don’t know how many years we have left together, so it’s very important.”