Sung in the key of Alicia Myers 🥰
“When do you want to have kids?” This was the question my husband asked me during one of our first few conversations when we started dating. Without skipping a beat, I told him after I turn 25. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but I also knew that I wanted to wait until I was “old”. I was 21 when I met him, and a year later we were married. We finished our time in Germany and moved to Korea. Every time we would meet new people the question was asked, “when are you all going to have kids?” Our response was always, “when we are ready.” The first few years of marriage are the toughest and I couldn’t imagine having kids during our “growing” stage. We were still getting to know each other and because of that we understood it was best to wait. We decided to start trying for a family towards the end of tour in Korea (looking back, it was literally a few months after my 25th birthday). We were told that it would take time, and not to be disappointed if pregnancy didn’t occur right away. Well, little did we know it happened a whole lot sooner than we thought.
When we moved to Kentucky, I was almost five months pregnant. Deon found out he was going to a unit that was deploying and that he would leave before the baby turned two months. We like to think that everything worked out the way that it did to make our bond stronger. Just like now, we had a whole village helping with our daughter while he was overseas. Thank goodness for technology. Deon returned right before our daughter’s first birthday. A couple of years later, our son made his appearance.
Life has continued to be an adventure. Our children are about the most resilient people that I know. This month we honor them. This month is “The Month of The Military Child.” Military children make sacrifices that most will never experience in a lifetime. Early mornings, late evenings, and frequent moves are some of the major things that these kids experience. I knew being married to another service member that it would be tough, but we would make it work. My husband and myself are both military children, so we really understand. That is one of the reasons we decided not to bring the children along on a tour to Korea. With all the scarifies that they have already made, we wanted to keep them as settled as possible. That was probably the quickest decision we both agreed on.
I may be away, but the show doesn’t stop. Deon is doing an awesome job with the children. He has not missed a beat. I am thankful for my family and this month we will honor these awesome military children.
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