Saying Goodbye to the Marine Corps: A Look Back

At the end of August, my husband went to his last days at work in the Marine Corps before his terminal leave began. In just a few short weeks, our time as an active duty military family will come to an end. In honor of the past 11 years, here's a quick look back at some of the highlights of our time as a Marine Corps family.

The First Meeting:

I will never forget the first glimpse I saw of my Marine, my prince. I was sitting on his mom's couch waiting impatiently with the rest of his family for his arrival. He had just returned from his second deployment and after months of talking, we would finally meet in person. We had just been told it would be a while longer, when a reflection in a mirror that was then in the entry room revealed my now husband looking quite princely in his dress blues...a rose and glass slippers in hand. (A tribute to my love of Cinderella...)

The Ball:


After such a meeting, it was only appropriate that he then whisked me off to the ball...the Marine Corps Ball that is. I even wore those glass slippers (they were horribly uncomfortable!). In our nearly 8 years of marriage, I actually only attended TWO balls, both have been quite special to me!



The Deployments:




Not all highlights of our military life have been good ones...but those hard times, like deployments, have shaped our family and cannot go without mention. Being away from a loved one is tough, but these moments certainly made us stronger both as individuals and a family.

Homecomings:




I've often said that while deployments are awful, without them we could not experience the joy and excitement of homecomings...and they certainly are exciting! There is nothing like seeing your loved one after months apart...or seeing your child reunited with Daddy! So amazing! I never could have imagined that our last homecoming would be the last, but it certainly was a great way to end it... after a yearlong deployment, we celebrated with a WWII themed homecoming...we waited by the bus for that wonderful moment of watching him step off. My son shouted out, 'Daddy!' looking behind us...we began correcting him (he often called other Marines daddy- they all looked the same!) when we turned and saw him approaching. He'd gotten off the bus and ridden with another Marine, and completely snuck up on us!!





Promoting My Husband:


Perhaps one of the greatest honors I had as a Marine Corps wife was getting to promote my husband. When promoted to SSGT, he asked if I would like to do the honors of pinning him...and an honor it was. Now, I did not, as is Marine Corps tradition, shove the pin into his chest (though was told I could), but I was told later on someone else did he honors! I feel very blessed to have been given that opportunity.

Moving:

Ah, yes...we wouldn't be a military family without the moving would we? Actually, we were quite lucky, up until moving to our current city, my husband was stationed at Camp Pendleton for his entire career, so we only had one *necessary* move...but it was a big one. We moved from our wonderful home on base- saying goodbye to the friends we'd made there- and made our way across the country to Indiana. Though we often miss California, we feel very blessed to have ended up here, and are thankful to be HERE of all places when this chapter of our life closes.

Of course these are just a few of the many great memories we have made along this journey...from road trips to exciting adventures (ahem, Disneyland!) and so much more, we have been truly blessed. I look forward to seeing what our next chapter has in store. But for now, a few more photos: 

Graduating Recruiters School

Shaun loved hanging out in Dad's office!

We were given the opportunity to attend a free Colts game to honor military heroes. My husband was on the field during halftime.