the beginning

 At the start of the National Anthem my husband stops and salutes while the song is playing over the loud speaker.  I thought we were here as a family, to have a fun day at Sea World in Orlando Florida. As the song started to play, tear came down my face. What was I getting into, can I be a navy wife? I do not know anything about navy life, and my thoughts were going in many directions as I watch my husband wearing the summer whites’ uniform standing their saluting.

Let me fill you in how we got here. My husband’s family is no strangers to military life. His grandpa, dad, uncles, and brother were all in the military from WWII to Vietnam, and it was my husband’s time to follow in the family footsteps. I have only really spent time with my husband and did not know about his family life. As my family, everyone was blue collar workers so this was a whole new experience for me.

It was November of 1990 and it was time for my husband to go off to boot camp. His mom, dad, me and our son took him to the recruiting office to say are goodbyes. It is so hard because I knew that I could not talk to him for ninety days; he would miss, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. My heart sank; I have never felt this feeling before. We cried seeing him walk away as he left in the van.