Awating my own Arival

...and a breif history on how I got there.

Change is exciting! Change is also stressful and overwhelming at times.  I thought I had spent the last three years preparing for this change and now that it is nearly upon me, I feel completely overwhelmed and UNprepared.

Three years ago, shortly after we got married, my husband told me he wanted to join the army.  He told me in the car on the way home from somewhere “I want to tell you something and I want you to REALLY think about it before dismissing it.”   You see, my previous marriage had been to a sailor, who was never home.  Cody assured me that the army did not deploy in the same way the navy did.  Even so I was skeptical; did I really want to be separated from my husband for so long?  Especially when separation played such a huge role in the failure of my first marriage?  Had I grown enough emotionally to be able to handle such a separation again?

Cody had longed to join a branch of the armed forces years before I met him and had mentioned it casually several times, but with his weight and ACL replacement, he would never meet the requirements.  There he was, sitting next to me in the car passionately talking about his plan to lose the weight and at least TRY to accomplish this dream.  And who was I to deny him the support that any partner should provide to the one they love?   It took a few weeks of talking and throwing around ideas and scenarios, but the one that most affected me was imagining us years later still married and Cody harboring resentment for me because I was too selfish to let him try.  I could hear all the snide, little comments that old married people who hate each other (but for some reason stay together) say, and I didn’t want that.  And what could it hurt to try?   In the end there was no good reason to say no, but my gut was still wrenched over it.  “I’m not your ex” Cody told me with sincerity “and you’re not the same person you used to be, try this with me and if you still feel the same after I’ve lost the weight, I won’t do it.”  Well, you can’t get more amazing than that!  It took us nearly two years to shed the pounds and change our life style before Cody could meet the weight requirement to join.  He was and still is an inspiration to me in everything I do!

Just before Cody announced his intent to
join the army

How long ago that all seems now that we’ve made it through boot camp and AIT.  While it was difficult being apart, it was not bad as I had feared.  Cody always had just the right thing to say when I needed it, and I had a wonderful group of family and friends to help along the way.  And that big change I opened with waaaay up there at the top? Our first duty station is in Germany!  Cody has been there for a month now and I should be “migrating” there soon.  The possibility of living abroad was one of the things that excited us both about the army and we were so happy to find out that our first duty station would be overseas!

Cody and I the day he got home from AIT

Looking back, I wasn’t preparing for this; life is a series of choices and the outcomes can never be fully predicted.  I was adapting to the outcomes of the choices we made as we went on this journey, and I love who I’ve become along the way and how much, despite the time apart, our love has grown.  I think, as long as we keep adapting to the inevitable changes, supporting and understanding each other, our relationship will endure.  I am so looking forward to this next step in our lives and the prospect of growing our family is just on the horizon.  Boy does it look bright!