Goodbye, Fort Bragg
I cussed my husband out for the first time. It was 1 am, and he was slamming cabinets and drawers in frustration from having had to spend so much time priming the walls, which is the exact reason he didn’t want me to paint them back in 2016. The attitude wasn’t helping. This was the night before we were meant to move out of our military housing and move on to the rest of our non-military lives. On Tuesday, two women came to pack our things, which were moved out by two functionally fit men on Wednesday. They left us with all the things we set aside to get us…
I Got Rid of 60% of My Clothes
I finally got around to clicking on Tidying Up with Marie Kondo instead of watching another episode of The Office on Netflix. I was surprised to learn Marie Kondo doesn’t speak English and expected the show to be annoying. Instead, I found Marie charming and whimsical. Her disposition is very light, happy. One thing she can say was “I love mess!” So she’s some sort of fairy. The first episode was about a family with two kids, and mom was too overwhelmed to handle the mess. I related to that on a spiritual level, except I’m not overwhelmed by the messes, they were just not at the top of my priorities. Dad was…
Leaving Fort Bragg: In My Feelings
In less than 30 days, I will no longer be a bride on base. Despite how irritating it is to be a military family, my feelings about no longer being one are complicated. Since I’m high maintenance, I went to a counselor to discuss it rather than texting one of my friends. My husband will be released from the Army at the end of February. His five-year contract will be up in April. And we won’t be special anymore. You’re Not Hardcore Unless You Live Hardcore I think when I’m honest, that’s what I like about being a military spouse. Warranted or not, service members and their families are revered…
Husband Crashes Wife’s Presentation at Work to Apologize for Infidelity: Take Him Back?
Dear Bride on Base, 2018 has been a challenging year for me. Despite giving birth to a precious little girl in July, I have found myself in the center of controversy after controversy. I have been plagued by rumors of inauthenticity in my work, and have dealt with constant tension between myself and a leading competitor in my industry, ultimately culminating in an attempt to physically fight this person at a high profile event. To make matters worse, individuals have come forward with fabricated stories about their involvement with me to further besmirch my name. I can never relax. On top of all that, I have decided to file for…
What I Learned in My Fourth Year of Marriage That Changed My Life
My fourth anniversary was on Thanksgiving this year. I hadn’t known that was possible because I thought Thanksgiving was always the last Thursday of the month, and my anniversary, November 22nd, is more than seven days from the end of the month. We All Have Problems Last year on Thanksgiving I decided I would ignore all my marriage problems for the next year to see if they went away because maybe they were in my head. My husband had been deployed to Afghanistan when his dad died at the end of November. He came home on the first of December. At the end of the trip to lay his father…
