Whimsical September

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Military Love Story: Kayla & Danny

I have heard few love stories that are more whimsical than those of my military friends. I always thought that my husband Jamie and I had an extraordinarily bizarre journey to the altar (and beyond), but throughout the last few years I’ve heard countless stories from fellow military couples about their unique (and often unbelievable) course of events that led them to where they are today. I’m thrilled to feature a new story every week in a series called We’re Not So Crazy After All: A Military Love Story. If you’re interested in being featured in this series, please email me at WhimsicalSeptember@yahoo.com.


Before Danny hopped a plane to Germany to spend the next three years serving in the Army, he wanted to say goodbye to his sister. When he couldn’t get in touch with her, he showed up at his sister’s friend’s house to see if she was there. His future wife opened the door.

Danny and Kayla met when they were 13 and 14 years old while their older siblings were dating. They went to different schools and ended up losing contact for nearly five years. When Danny graduated high school, he enlisted in the Army, completed basic training and AIT, and began preparing for his first duty station overseas.

Kayla laughs when she recalls seeing Danny on her doorstep.

“I got all weak in the knees, and we were both were kind of shocked!”

Danny explained to her that he was moving to Germany the next day and was trying to get a hold of his sister. Kayla knew where he could find her, so she offered to give him a ride so that she could spend time with him.

She says that their short ride across town was full of awkward flirting and catching up.


“He asked me what my boyfriend’s name was because he assumed I was with somebody. He was pretty happy when I told him that I was single!”

Danny left for Germany the next day, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Kayla. Since he knew that Kayla and his sister were close, he’d call his sister all the time hoping to talk with Kayla too.

Eventually their conversations were one-on-one, and they quickly became crazy about each other.

“He was so cute when he finally asked me to date him while we were on the phone! Of course I said yes!”

Four months later, Danny was wheels down in the states and couldn’t wait to see Kayla. He also had plans to pop a big question while he was home.

Just a few days after he landed in North Carolina, Danny organized a big game of Hide and Go Seek with Kayla’s family since they all used to play that game as young teenagers.  For one of the rounds, Danny was the “seeker”, and when everyone went to go hide, Kayla’s mom grabbed her arm and told her to come hide with her. Kayla didn’t think much of it, so she went and hid with her mom.  A few minutes later Danny found them (in a spot he’d arranged with her mom earlier), dropped to his knee, and asked Kayla to marry him.

Kayla says that the next few days were full of wedding discussions. They’d settled on waiting for a while to get married, but with Danny’s leave coming to an end, they were anxious about their goodbye. Kayla remembers waking up one day and saying “Screw it! Let’s just get married!”

Five days later on October 6th, 2008,  surrounded by beaming family members,  they were husband and wife.

Their commitment to each other made their goodbye easier; Kayla knew that once she secured command sponsorship she’d be joining him in Germany. On February 14, 2009, a day she called the best Valentines Day ever, she landed in Germany and officially kicked off married life with her husband.

As Kayla and Danny approach their sixth anniversary this fall, they’re very proud of all they’ve accomplished together. They’ve survived two deployments apart (and are gearing up for a third soon), ran around Europe, completed two big moves, and bought a home. The accomplishment their most proud of  – their beautiful two year old daughter Aubree.


Kayla and Danny plan to do a vow renewal ceremony and big celebratory reception for their 10 year anniversary.



Kayla & Danny were our next-door neighbors while we were all stationed at Fort Campbell, and I’ll never forget the first time Kayla casually told me their “how we met” story. I loved it hearing it again even more! They’re currently stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Thank you for letting me share your story!


More Military Love Stories:
Carrie & Brendan
Katie & Matt

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