Whimsical September

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Military Love Story: Rebecca & Steven

I have heard few love stories that are more whimsical than those of past & present military couples. 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.

Rebecca & Steven

This December my husband and I will celebrate eight years of marriage; Eight years of a military marriage, which have been so incredibly different than I could ever have imagined.

I met my husband on June 29, 2006 in a tavern in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I was out with friends after a break-up and he was on post-tour leave from his second deployment in Iraq. It was a chance encounter, but one I’m sure was destined to happen. It was truly love at first sight for both of us. We were so hesitant to say that,  but I remember him saying something like, “This feels different than anything before. It is really special. I think I’m falling in love.”
We spent as much time together that last week of his leave as we could while juggling my work schedule and his family time. He left on July 4thto drive across the country to Fort Lewis, Washington with his dad. He said he’d call me.

I was pretty surprised when he did, and we talked every day for weeks. He suggested I come out to Washington to visit him. I should have been nervous, I should have had a back-up plan prepared, but I knew, without a doubt, that this was the man for me.
Throughout our short relationship/engagement, we really racked up the frequent flyer miles! I made three round-trips from Virginia to Washington. My dad even made a trip (without me!) to Washington to meet my future husband. He was able to come back to Virginia over Thanksgiving weekend and we got married over Christmas block leave, six months to the date after we met.

Our wedding was pretty traditional, even though our engagement was not. My best friend and my mother were instrumental in planning our wedding. Neither my husband nor I lived in the town we were to be married, so we trusted them to make the important decisions.

We were married on a Friday evening in December, and it was either warm enough that I wasn’t cold in my dress or I was running on adrenaline! I spent the day with my family and my friends – getting manicures, eating a little Chick Fil-a for lunch, and playing some Sudoku while I was waiting for it all to begin. We adhered to tradition and didn’t see each other all day. I was so excited to walk down the aisle and see him and become his wife. It all seemed magical to me. It was everything I hoped for in a wedding.

Our marriage has been more than I could have hoped for. Sure, I had expectations. The army wife life was going to be exciting and fun. I’d have instant best friends, gorgeous ball dresses, beautiful homes, and my husband would be away minimally, if at all. It was on my honeymoon when a phone call shattered that dream. Long story short, someone had looked at an old list and declared my husband was dangerously close to being AWOL. He was to return to Fort Lewis as soon as possible and prepare for a deployment, instead of our current plans which was to move to Arizona so he could attend school. Eventually we had it all straightened out and we thankfully moved as planned to Arizona.

Over our eight years, we’ve moved four times, including once overseas to Germany. We’ve moved from a 700sq ft apartment to a 1500sq ft, 4 bedroom house. We have two beautiful children, Declan (6) and Abigail (4) and a dog. We’ve been apart more than I expected, but less than some. My husband was extremely lucky to be at both the births of our children. He deployed four times while we lived in Germany. He’s left on temporary assignments three times, including one six week period where we had no communication whatsoever.

While this was not at all what I expected, I wouldn’t change one single thing about it. We are strong because of what we have gone through, and I know that no matter what the army throws our way next, we will come through it stronger than before. This military wife life is not for everyone, but it is absolutely where I belong.
Rebecca and her family are currently stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. She was recently recognized as the 2014 Fort Huachuca Military Spouse of the year.
Thank you for sharing your story!
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