“I was alone for 6 months. Nick was in the military and I wasn’t prepared. You love him, but you’ve both changed. ‘What is wrong with us?’ It hit me. I didn’t need to give up my own dreams to be a military spouse.”
‘If I get deployed, do you want to get married?’ I was married to the military. I was constantly lost, never sure what would happen next.’: Military spouse encourages ‘love your own dreams again’
‘I know the days are long and the nights are lonely. But I also know the ’superhero’ feeling, the ‘I’m doing it all and surviving’ feeling.’: Woman encourages deployed military spouses, ‘You got this’
“The overwhelmed times, the stress, the depression, the heartache, and the doubt. But I also know the good. The ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this’ feeling.”
‘Numbness consumed my whole left side. ‘You’re tying your boots too tight.’ The next thing I knew, I collapsed.’: Navy Ordinanceman battles MS during leave, ‘Be the person you need to be’
“I couldn’t move nor feel the entire left side of my face. I chewed a hole on the inside of my cheek due to no feeling. Looking at my mom and sisters’ faces filled with tears, I knew it wasn’t good.”
‘Pocket the money you would have spent. Spend it on wine instead. Being a single parent takes an emotional toll.’: Temporary single mom says ‘there’s no magic number that makes a family whole’
“There’s no time for self-care. I have difficulty finding time to even shower. Being a temporary single parent comes with its fair share of difficulties, but it has some pretty amazing perks.”
‘It’s a girl, but they saw something.’ I was told, ‘You only have a week to decide.’ I saw her and my heart dropped.’: Mom to daughter with Down syndrome adopts baby with special needs, ‘Our girls make our family better’
“I saw her and my heart stopped. I tried to scroll past, but I couldn’t. We took a HUGE leap of faith.”
‘I told her, ‘I love you,’ for the last time. We thought we were prepared. I couldn’t get out of bed for 2 days.’: Mom feels grief and joy for foster kids, ‘Our definition of family has changed for the better’
“Our teen stayed for a few months with her son. Just enough time for me to get used to make-up all over the counter. When she left, I started leaving my eyeshadow out just so it felt like she was still here.
‘What the heck, I’m not ready. I wasn’t expecting this.’ Everything we knew had taken a sudden shift.’: 20-year-old gets positive pregnancy test same day as husband’s deployment, ‘I couldn’t handle going through it alone’
“The first day he came home, we got pregnant. We’d been apart for 3 months straight – can you really blame us? The sun was just coming up. We were packing our car for the airport to say our goodbyes. I woke up feeling nauseous, so I took a pregnancy test. I immediately felt lightheaded and fell on my cold bathroom floor, bawling. Hayden sat next to me, wrapping his arms around me. ‘What do you want to do? It’s going to be okay.’ Before I knew it, Hayden was gone and I was on my way back home, alone.”
‘I love you,’ he mouthed. Then he was gone. I could barely see through my tears.’: Woman details military whirlwind romance, ‘I’m proud to stand by his side as he serves our country’
“He whispered, ‘I sure am gonna miss you baby.’ They were the first words we’d spoken in hours. I almost didn’t notice the tear roll down my cheek, had it not landed on my lips. He pulled me closer and we sat in our embrace. Silent. Both aware everything was about to change.”
‘It can’t be him. My life can’t go on without him.’ It was 10 days before his return from deployment.’: Marine wife mourns fallen hero fiancé on what would’ve been their wedding day, ‘I will stay strong for you, carry on your legacy’
“I remember every text I sent him that day, with no reply. I’ll never forget the terrible gut feeling I had when I found out 3 American soldiers had been killed. It was windy and the trees were blowing, as if Ben was giving me a sign. ‘It can’t be him, it’s finally our turn.’ I remember trying to go to sleep that night, but was tossing and turning. And then came the pounding on the door at 1 a.m.”
‘I adopted a deployed soldier, the one that I would later fall madly in love with. People thought we were nuts.’: Couple say ‘I do’ 10 months after ‘random selection’ pairing online
“I signed up for a support system overseas. You send care packages and exchange emails. I happened to get my now husband. The first thing he said was ‘Hey, baby,’ and it melted my heart. Just four months after we first embraced, we decided to get married.”
