Imagine this: A handful of close friends (or in our case, battle buddies) are miraculously back in the same zip code, be it for a few months or just a few moments.
You gather around the fire pit on the back patio. You pour yourself a beverage of choice (for me, this is Lime La Croix in a wine glass #PartyAnimal) It takes only a couple of seconds before someone says it…
“Remember that time when…”
Memories. They can be treasured. They can be joyous. They can be painful. But either way, they are something that makes up who we are and how we got to “the now.” Memories are important. That’s why we are reflecting on our own most memorable milspouse memories in this current miniseries. (If you missed last month’s installment, read it here.)
Before we jump into the amazing reflections submitted by our AWN fans and followers, I would love to take a second to share another couple of my most memorable military spouse memories.
Unlike the memory I shared last month (all about HOW I became a milspouse), this memory is less joyful– but yet still precious to me.
This first happened in January 2012. I won’t go into all the details, because this isn’t the “All-About-Sharita-Show,” but I would like to share the story about our first pregnancy. Hubs and I had been married over a year and thought it was about time to start “trying-not-to-try” to start a family. Because apparently that was the next steps in our military family life.
It wasn’t long when we found out that we were pregnant. Yes, the State of My Uterus was “Occupied.” Unfortunately, I was SUPER anxious about the whole thing, and (naturally) my husband was away at Pre-Ranger school training… So a couple of weeks with NO phone contact. He finally called the day before he was coming home for a quick break, and I blurted it out. We were going to be parents. #YayYikes
We spent a short weekend together and he was off to Ranger School. And friends, let’s just say I was a hot mess.
I was still classified as a “newlywed” and I had guarded myself from getting to know other military spouses because I thought (wrongly) that everyone was all drama. Then, the one thing that I had been obsessing about happened: I had a miscarriage.
I was crushed and had no way to tell my husband because the experience didn’t qualify as a Red Cross message. I was distraught. It was nearing the end of Darby Phase, and my husband finally called.
At that moment, he chose to opt for an “Admin drop” and come home to be with his grieving wife.
While that memory is something I would never wish on anyone else, it is an experience that I will never forget. A lot of lessons were learned in the process by both my husband and I (more than space will allow in this post,) but we grew so much during that season– in our relationship, as individuals and in our faith. (And we are now happy to report that some other memorable milspouse memories occurred after that, when we welcomed our daughter into the world the next March, then recently added our new son to the mix earlier this year in February.)
So friends… That’s another one of my most memorable milspouse moments. Let’s see what others our AWN fans would like to add…
What do you think? Moved by our memories? Be sure to stop by again next month for our final installment in this series.
Moved by the memory of the Cross,
“Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”~Matthew 26:13
