What's It Like Being a Marine's Wife?

DIFFERENT FOR EVERY SPOUSE. NORMAL. EXCITING.

 

This is the only wife I've been, so I don't know any different. Brian and I will have been married 7 months on Feb. 7th. During that time we've been what one familiar with military slang would call "geo-bachelors". This simply means we live in separate places, geographical bachelors. For us that means one of us lives in VA and the other in FL. This is our normal. I could tell you it's the worst thing ever and I can't live without Brian but I'd be lying. We both have chosen to fully support one another in our career endeavors. At present, those endeavors leave us 1000 mi apart. While I do wish I saw him much more often and we were together in OUR home, I can't minimize the value living apart has given us. Brian is able to focus on flight school fully with minimal distractions from me [most days]. I am able to focus on my career as well, gaining as much experience as I can in my respective fields until it comes time for me to make the move with him. When's that? Best estimate: 1 to 1.5 years from now OR when he gets a permanent duty station, whichever comes first. So we embrace it, live it, and make it work to the best of our abilities. What we've chosen to do isn't for everyone, but we're both truly invested in making it work, so it does.

 

Living apart means planning trips to see one another. Those usually tend to fall around holidays or gaps in either of our work schedules. Sometimes they can be random, but more often than not they are planned in advance. So far the longest we've gone without visiting one another has been 3 months. Not terrible when you look at our future options, but it was difficult at the time. I love my trips to FL though. I get to see B in his element and socialize with lovely pilots' spouses. It's all fun and games (plus catching up on sleep), so it feels more like vacation than anything.
 

Paintball in Pensacola, FL

I love the Marine community I've experience thus far! I live close to a Marine base in VA and recently started volunteering with the L.I.N.K.S. program there. The program is essentially an intro to the Marine Corps lifestyle and that specific base. I met two of my closest milspouse friends through the L.I.N.K.S. course I took in July '16, so it only felt right to share that experience moving forward. I also feel through immersing myself in the Marine community now I can better understand my husband when it comes to Marine Corps demands. So far, so good in that respect. I'm still on the Marine Corps acronym struggle bus, but I'm getting there! There's a lot to this lifestyle that I've yet to learn and understand but I'm excited to take this journey with B and I love being his wife!!

 

USMC Birthday Ball - Nov. 2016

 

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