Distance, abnormal hours, sacrifices, unpredictability and independence all consist of a military marriage. To survive these untraditional stressors a few clichés come to mind, “quality over quantity” are words normally repeated by families who do not have the luxury of seeing each other daily. Another phrase to live by is, “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” These two clichés proved to show how my husband and I survive all the struggles associated with military life.
My husband (then boyfriend) joined the United States Army as an Officer following college graduation. He immediately went to BOLC (Basic Officer Leader Course) while I finished my senior year of college. This was just the beginning of our long-distance relationship. One month before my graduation, he gets hours’ notice that he needs to jump on a plane to deploy for 6 months.
When he returned I left my family and friends behind in Maryland and made the move to Savannah, GA to finally start our life “together”. It was not long until his unit went through another training cycle. He was gone for weeks at a time and then those weeks turned into months, and inevitably another 9-month deployment only a year after his return. The military is extremely unpredictable, and you learn to just go with the flow!
Surviving the times apart did in fact make our hearts grow fonder, and whenever we have the opportunity to be together we ensure it’s quality time, constantly doing the things we love. I could not do it without the help of family, friends, and my TMX Finance Family to make it through even the difficult times. I am thankful for all the service members and their families that make sacrifices on a regular basis.