FAMILY
For my husband and I, a cross-branch Navy/Marine couple, family was our biggest deciding factor. Before I met my husband, I was pretty set on a one-and-done enlistment. I was like Meredith and wanted to use the time in the Navy to pay for another college degree and get myself in a better place career-wise for the future. Then I met my husband. A Marine who wasn’t sure if he was career or not but was doing everything he could to make sure he’d be promotable and eligible for re-enlistment if he wanted it. Right away it was obvious that we both had goals and a passion to succeed during our time in the military.
As I advanced I started to entertain the idea of staying in. I was encouraged to submit an officer package and it lead to a lot of conversations between my husband and I about how that would affect us. The biggest selling point for me on not submitting that package and getting out as I had intended was family. For the past 2.5 years my husband and I have been stationed apart. We’ve spent 101 days together in the almost 3 years we’ve been together. We survived a dual-deployment. We can’t even entertain the idea of having tiny humans.
We’d discussed what we wanted for our family life before we were married. I grew up in a Navy family so I know it’s possible to have what we see for ourselves, but not if we remain a dual-military couple. While it works for some families, it’s not what we envision for ourselves so my decision was made. I signed my intent to separate paperwork a few weeks ago and am now working on the things I’ve already discussed. I’m a few weeks away from finishing my current bachelor’s degree. I’ve finished an apprentice program in my Navy job field. I’ve been doing financial math until my head hurts to make sure we will be ok once our income changes the way we know it’s going to. I don’t feel like I’m losing out being the one to get out. My passion to teach and write far outweighs my passion to be a Sailor. His passion to be a Marine is so strong I can’t help but feel proud of everything he does. It just made sense. Now if someone could give me a few pointers on how to be a civilian again…I’d appreciate that!
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