The Bride

I left my full time job January 30th, 2015. I had imagined myself crypt walking (a dance) out of the building because I was ecstatic to be moving on. Instead, I stayed late making sure the handbook I had created for the programs I managed was complete.

My manager looked at me regretfully as she said good bye to me from her car in the front of the building. I loved her but had hated my job for a long time for several reasons. Despite that, the reason I was leaving was to join my groom of ten weeks in Fort Bragg, NC.

My mother and I traversed the Tennessee mountains to arrive at my new 1980’s duplex on February 4, 2015. My husband had laid Hershey’s in the shape of a heart with a note saying “Welcome Home” to greet me in his absence.

In Target, my mom suggested I purchase a nightie and not wear what I “normally wear” to bed now that I was married. I considered the day she headed back to Missouri the first day of the rest of my life.

Four years later, our Army existence is completely over. I look back and realize I couldn’t see what I was going through. Glad to be on the other side,  I strive to inspire through the stories of the brides still in the midst of the trial and honor them for the things they can’t see.

Through sharing my own experiences and the lessons I have learned, I hope to help new wives find their way and thrive in spite of the challenges of the military.