Military Life
Military Life
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Well, I dated while in the Army, but never a fellow soldier. I did have a few WAC friends, but never dated one. I had a few buddies who were married, but we left their wives alone- or no more home cooked meals! That will keep your zipper zipped.
So today, up at FoodLion a very pretty lady in her forties came up and said: "Thank you for your Service." We got to chatting, and it turns out she got married to her Hubby right out of his Basic Training! They stayed married through all 20 years of his career. And are still married. So we chatted about what it was like for her, with a Husband that did several deployments (four to Combat Zones) and living on Post with 18,000 single men - all in good shape.
Here are some of the Points she made:
1) When I was a young Bride, it was flattering to have all the male attention. My husband and I knew each other our whole lives and grew up in a small town in Iowa. Our Senior Class had only 37 people in it. When your are only 19 and just kind of girl next door cute, it takes time to adjust to the fact that thousands of men with strong bodies will hit on your like you are the hottest girl on Base.
Some of my girlfriends fell for the lines. Some even ended their marriages. But a lot of us wives kept each other from crossing that line. Marriages that survive the Military are very strong and flexible marriages.
2) I stopped watching the News when my Husband got Deployed. None of us wives watched it. We were scared we would see our Husbands blown up, shot, or killed in real time on the News before any Official notified us.
It is so hard to tell the kids every morning that Daddy is safe, when you don't even know it is true. Hiding your fear from your children takes super human concentration ...and Faith. I prayed a lot. They say there are no Atheists in the foxhole, well there aren't any at home waiting either.
3) The biggest challenge when your hubby comes home, if you have children, is adjusting the schedule to include him. He wants to be part of the Family, but doesn't know our routine. He hasn't been home in anywhere from six months to a year. So of course he wants to go get pizza, but that is Lizzy's Dance Class time, and Bobby has Soccer.
In some ways, having him home throughs everything into a tizzy and upsets routines. So you have to figure out a way around that too.
4) You will never know how proud I am of my Husband, and all of his fellow Soldiers, male or female. It is the reason that to this day, we invite guys and girls stuck in the barracks to come to our house for a home cooked meal, a game of monopoly and some backyard volleyball. And on Thanksgiving we have as many as fifteen without family come down for a feast and football on TV .
Being married in the Service and living on Post, is not like any Civilian Marriage that I know of. The ones that work, are some of the strongest I have ever seen.
And that is basically what our little talk was about. I was proud of both her, and her husband. So I saluted, and she snapped a Parade ground level salute back.
So today, up at FoodLion a very pretty lady in her forties came up and said: "Thank you for your Service." We got to chatting, and it turns out she got married to her Hubby right out of his Basic Training! They stayed married through all 20 years of his career. And are still married. So we chatted about what it was like for her, with a Husband that did several deployments (four to Combat Zones) and living on Post with 18,000 single men - all in good shape.
Here are some of the Points she made:
1) When I was a young Bride, it was flattering to have all the male attention. My husband and I knew each other our whole lives and grew up in a small town in Iowa. Our Senior Class had only 37 people in it. When your are only 19 and just kind of girl next door cute, it takes time to adjust to the fact that thousands of men with strong bodies will hit on your like you are the hottest girl on Base.
Some of my girlfriends fell for the lines. Some even ended their marriages. But a lot of us wives kept each other from crossing that line. Marriages that survive the Military are very strong and flexible marriages.
2) I stopped watching the News when my Husband got Deployed. None of us wives watched it. We were scared we would see our Husbands blown up, shot, or killed in real time on the News before any Official notified us.
It is so hard to tell the kids every morning that Daddy is safe, when you don't even know it is true. Hiding your fear from your children takes super human concentration ...and Faith. I prayed a lot. They say there are no Atheists in the foxhole, well there aren't any at home waiting either.
3) The biggest challenge when your hubby comes home, if you have children, is adjusting the schedule to include him. He wants to be part of the Family, but doesn't know our routine. He hasn't been home in anywhere from six months to a year. So of course he wants to go get pizza, but that is Lizzy's Dance Class time, and Bobby has Soccer.
In some ways, having him home throughs everything into a tizzy and upsets routines. So you have to figure out a way around that too.
4) You will never know how proud I am of my Husband, and all of his fellow Soldiers, male or female. It is the reason that to this day, we invite guys and girls stuck in the barracks to come to our house for a home cooked meal, a game of monopoly and some backyard volleyball. And on Thanksgiving we have as many as fifteen without family come down for a feast and football on TV .
Being married in the Service and living on Post, is not like any Civilian Marriage that I know of. The ones that work, are some of the strongest I have ever seen.
And that is basically what our little talk was about. I was proud of both her, and her husband. So I saluted, and she snapped a Parade ground level salute back.
Dating
Military Life
Military Family
Love
Posted 15 d ago
Responses: 2
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My first two units were predominantly sausage fests, and the only females were obviously taken. I managed to avoid the Marine dress blues algorithm considering I never twitterpated anyone during my first four years, and not without trying.
My wife and I knew of each other in highschool, but we weren't sweethearts. If anything we would've been voted as the two people least likely to hook up. She told me later she actively avoided me because I was weird, and proud of it. We re-met many years later. I had almost literally just gotten back from Switzerland and she asked me if I'd go with her to the Air Force recruiter the next day; if I was available. I agreed and things went from there. She later told me I was the second to last person on her very long list of folks who were either in the service, or left recently. Despite being second to last I was the only one both in the area and agreed to go with her to translate what the recruiter was saying.
We'll be at our 12-year mark for marriage by this August. One thing I made sure we agreed on before any real commitment was that we told each other what we needed to hear vs what we wanted to hear. It came close to wrecking the marriage more than once, but more often than not it saved it.
My wife and I knew of each other in highschool, but we weren't sweethearts. If anything we would've been voted as the two people least likely to hook up. She told me later she actively avoided me because I was weird, and proud of it. We re-met many years later. I had almost literally just gotten back from Switzerland and she asked me if I'd go with her to the Air Force recruiter the next day; if I was available. I agreed and things went from there. She later told me I was the second to last person on her very long list of folks who were either in the service, or left recently. Despite being second to last I was the only one both in the area and agreed to go with her to translate what the recruiter was saying.
We'll be at our 12-year mark for marriage by this August. One thing I made sure we agreed on before any real commitment was that we told each other what we needed to hear vs what we wanted to hear. It came close to wrecking the marriage more than once, but more often than not it saved it.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
That is an awesome comment. Period. What a wonderful story and happy 12 years in August. Sounds like too strong willed people found a way to make it work. And honesty is tough but it works the best for a relationship. Thanks for posting that wonderful little glimpse Into your life.
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