The Army My Fairytale

As a little girl, I often dreamed of my Knight in Shining Armor, being swept away by my handsome prince, loving profoundly, and starting a family.

Although I had aspirations and dreams for a career, my deepest longing was for a family and true love. I wanted and craved IT ALL: the prince, the family, the career.

But let me remind you, the reader, about fairytales. Although they generally have happy endings, the main character faces significant challenges and obstacles, perhaps even loss and tragedy, before that romantic “fairytale” ending. 

I met my husband in faraway lands; I’m a Texas girl, and he is a West Virginian.  We would both be assigned to Fairbanks, Alaska, for first duty stations. Our love story would begin.  It was love at first sight for me, but he was an officer, and I enlisted.  The world and the military would frown upon this union from the beginning.   Unfortunately, or fortunately, I had significant medical emergencies (please note in my fairytale story, this would become the second tragedy, as the first was that I could not pursue a relationship with an officer) and would be medically discharged from the military.  I could not serve, but I was now free to LOVE. Would this be my fairytale? No, this fairytale and this princess has far more tragedy and triumph to come. 

Fairytales almost always include a battle of sorts in their storyline. The battle came. It was called war in the form of Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, and Kosovo, and it took over 20 years. The tragedies grew, the heartache unbearable at times, the loss devastating. What I witnessed was the truest and bravest of souls: my Army friends, who became my family, enduring pain beyond measure. I also witnessed love, sacrifice, selflessness, and healing. I experienced tragedy with those experiencing significant loss and saw joy at the return of my prince from war. I was surrounded by real heroes. The bravest of brave and the fiercest of fierce.

My prince is home and I am grateful.  I wonder if Cinderella has PTSD from her childhood. Her mother and sisters abused her. Does Snow White have issues trusting people? I mean she was tricked and poisoned. Hansel and Gretal almost got eaten, what kind of psychological scarring does that leave?

The military gave me a fairytale and I’m learning to take the beauty with the beast.

#fairytale #militarywife #texasgirl #westvirginia #afghanistan #ourlovestory