If someone would have told me in High School that one day I would be serving in the military I would have laughed like crazy. I already had a child and politics bored me. After high school I started working fulltime and eventually became overwhlemed with trying to juggle being a mom, working full time, and going to school full time. I needed the job so I dropped out of college. Fast forward a little bit and I met my ex husband. He worked at the same company as me, and soon we were never apart. A few years go
by and we both had low wage jobs that just did not offer a lot of chances for advancement. Then one night as lovers will do we were having a pillow talk session and he asked me what I wanted to be when I was a child. I of course wanted to be a princess, hey if it can happen to some ugly chick in LA in a movie why not me. Then he told me he always had a life long dream of joining the Army and had almost done it but he dropped out of high school.As luck would have it a couple weeks later he was laid off and I was pregnant with our third child. His income had been a lot better than mine so we were in a real bind. We ended up having to move and our finances were just getting worse. Finally at our wits end one night I looked at him and told him I wanted him to talk to a recruiter. The next day we were in an Army recruiting office.
Five months later my husband at the time had his GED in hand and I was watching him swear into the United States Army. I was extremely proud of him. Then I kissed him goodbye and watched him leave for basic training. A couple months later I was making the treck from Ohio to South Carolina to congratulate him and see how he had changed.
His first duty assignment would be his last duty assignment. We ended up at Fort Knox. At first I was thrilled with the military lifestyle. Everyone was always respectful to him and already viewed him as a hero. I enjoyed being an Army wife. The PX, and Commisary amazed me. I love the base housing where
I didnt have to worry about paying bills, it was automatically taken out of his checks. Finally I have to admit I loved the benefits, and the pay. Unfortunately though as fate would have it we were falling on hard times because it just never seemed like there was enough money to live the life that he wanted. Ultimately this would destroy our relationship, and push me into a whole new lifestyle.I have no idea what led me to the recruiter's office that day. I had never truely felt a strong desire to be military. Perhaps I was scared of losing the benefits that I was use to at this point, or maybe I just needed to see if I could make it. Well no matter what I was thinking less than six months later I was shipping off to boot camp.
I remember swelling with pride as I rose my right hand and vowed to serve my country. One day later though as the bus pulled into my basic training site I was kicking myself. We never even made it off the bus before the Drill Sergeants were all over us, shouting directions, and using scare tactics to get our attention. I remember thinking that I was not going to make it. Three weeks in and I still didnt think I could make it, I was physically exhausted and I just wanted to go home and see my kids. Then one day a finally got a letter and it was from my eldest son. He had written a paper about me joining the military and how I was his hero. At that point for the first time since starting this journey I knew that I was not only going to graduate but that I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that my son stayed proud of his mother. I graduated and he was there to hug me and tell me that he knew I could do it.
Today I am still in the Army. I still love serving my country, and yes the benefits and pay are nice. My son still makes it a point to tell me he is proud of me, and that he hopes to be a soldier one day too.