I knew many military families struggled with the distance and the lack of communication from their loved service members, but I didn’t realize how difficult it truly was until it happened to me.
Up until the day before my fiancé swore in to the military, we had been talking about the amazing opportunities the military has to offer its service members and their families. We were so excited to move to an entirely new state and begin our lives fresh. We only listed the positives.
On June 11, he officially swore in to the U.S. Air Force for four years. I became a military fiancé overnight.
The conversations took a turn to questions: What if we’re stationed across the country away from our families? What if I can’t make it to your basic training graduation and we can’t see each other for nearly a year?
Three months after swearing in, he left for basic training in San Antonio, Texas for a little over two months. After he graduates, he will head straight to his job training which is, for now, an undetermined amount of time.
I didn’t realize how difficult the distance would be. He was eventually granted the privilege of sending and receiving mail, and I’ve received one 12-minute phone call. But that’s all.
We forgot about the negative side. Between the inability to just pick up the phone and call one another, or the 1,000 miles apart, we had forgotten the difficulty of all that an enlistment entails.
The first two weeks was he was gone was the worst. But after time passed, the distance and the lack of communication became easier. Maybe it was easier because it became our new “normal,” or maybe because it meant time was going by and we would see each other again soon, but either way, I’m glad it did.
I became a military fiancé overnight, but the sacrifices we’re both making will be well worth the reward.
I commend the service members for their incredible sacrifice, and I also commend their families and loved ones that endure the other part of this sacrifice.
Body photo by Hannah Woosley