“A Remembered Event” It all started in Hawaii, my family had just been stationed there for a duty station as my father was in the military. I was absolutely ecstatic about living on an island where most people only vacationed. It was a huge change from living in Texas where it was dry and humid to tropical paradise, it was so amazing and the food was so multi-cultural that you could try anything. The waterfalls and hikes were my favorite part and the beaches. North Shore was the beach you surfed on the most, and it was just breathe taking as the water is so clear and blue that you can see the sand on the shore line. Hawaii was just so awesome and then I started working at a video game store called Game Stop which I loved since I am an avid gamer and could share my excitement with other gamers. What I didn’t expect was to meet my future husband there. His name was Joseph and he was tall, handsome with hazel eyes and dark brown hair, he had a large build and you could clearly tell he worked out. It began as a regular transaction and I was signing him up for the rewards program; I had noticed we shared a similar birthday, and we just started chatting from there. As days went by, he would visit frequently and chat with me, and I recall one day he asked me out, which at …show more content…
March 12, 2011 was one of the worst days in my life, I had only five hours to spend with my husband before he left for a twelve month long deployment. My heart swelled with pride as I knew he was happy serving his country but it also ached as I didn’t know what to do or think. As he cleaned his weapon and fixed his uniform he smiled and hugged me tightly saying “No one will keep me from you.” I feared the worst but I didn’t cry once in front of him not until that bus left did I break down and sob my heart
Growing up in Virginia was great. The house I lived in for the entirety of my life there, was right on the water. With this location, of course we had it all; boats, jet
Deployment is a word that all military spouses and military families dread to hear. When my husband came home to our barely moved in house with news of his deployment to Afghanistan, I was devastated. Though we received terrible news, we also felt incredible joy that same week. I was pregnant with our first child. We were overjoyed by this news but it also meant that my husband would be away the first eight months of our son’s life.
The air was warm, the beams of sunlight shined on my skin, and the sweet laughter of my daughter came as she ran about. I could hear the bark of the neighbor’s dog in the distance, the scraping sound of a jogger's sneakers on the gravel sidewalk and I could smell the sweet aroma of the ripening peaches coming from the tree in our backyard. It was a brilliant summer day just like any other. My husband, Matthew, pulled in. Our daughter ran to him as he walked up the drive, “Daddy, Daddy,” she shouted as she wrapped her arms around him, embracing him with love. My husband sat beside me and began to speak. My heart began to beat slowly and erratically at first, my eyes began to burn in their sockets and a lump rose in my throat. The hair on my arms stood on end as my eyes began to fill with tears. “I got orders babe, I’m going to be shipped out in eight days.” These words my husband spoke would be the begging of a whole new life, a whole new fear. This day my life changed forever. On this day I learned my husband was going to be deployed.
At eight years old, I realized the danger my dad was facing shortly after he was first deployed. I was terrified for my father, crying myself to sleep for months and only slept on his side of the bed the entire deployment. Although, I’m older and have experienced three deployments with my family, the subject of deployment is still very sensitive. Deployment is a vulnerable period in the family and the soldier, there were times where I knew nothing of my father, and we’d constantly checked the lists of soldiers killed in
We started our travels down in Columbus Ohio. The week leading up to the big move we spent at Deer Creek State park, for a family reunion, where my dad and step mom, had the chance to see everyone again, before the journey began. Over all we had taken nine days to get to our destination. First stop, Saint Louis, Missouri, we stopped to see the Gateway Arch. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, so of course I was pretty amazed. The first few days were our longest driving days, but sense we broke up the days, our longest day was eight hours. The second day was the worst, Oklahoma is so boring to drive through, and nothing but flat crop farms, and wind turbines everywhere you look. We drove till we got about seventy five miles from the boarder of New Mexico, And Oklahoma. We got up early and began a shorter dive to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we went to Petroglyph National Monument, yeah it was interesting, but after you see a few hundred, they all start to look the same. The next morning we took a beautiful hike and took many pictures to capture the moment. Other than getting there, my favorite part of the trip, was Arizona, where we stayed four days in Flagstaff, one day in Holbrook, and one day in Phoenix. I wouldn’t mind if I lived in Arizona, it’s a very beautiful state. My family and I stopped by the Petrified Forest National Park, and I
Hawai'i is a land full of diverse people and ideas, starting from the Polynesians who decided to cross the ocean to settle and form the traditions practiced today by the Hawaiians. Unlike many other states, the beliefs of Hawai'i have managed to stay alive. Its unique culture is what attracts tourists most. Many people see it as a vacation spot, full of fun attractions and say, “When I go to Hawai'i I'm going to get some Hawaiian tattoos, they look so cool!” or “I'm going to buy a hula skirt, they're really pretty!” But all those hula dances and tattoos are not just for show. People do not know that there is more to it than ink or hip swaying; behind every hula skirt and every tattoo there is a story. Hawai’i’s culture consists of the significance of its dances, tattoos, and traditions that give Hawaiians their unique lifestyle.
In December 2002, my dad’s boss called telling him, he was to be deployed in January 2003. Being 5 years of age I didn't quite understand what he would endure, all I knew is my daddy was leaving us for 7 months. The morning of my dad's departure came quickly. I'll never forget the goodbye that changed my outlook on family and love. At 5 am my father walked into my room. Scared and nervous, he was crying… I had never
I am an undocumented student at UC Davis. When I am asked a simple question such as, "describe your personal experiences", I ask myself: Where do I begin?
Some people like to stay in control of their life and avoid any amount of extraordinary risk to protect their self-disclosure. Other people don’t shy away from challenges as they are confident that certain obstacles are nothing more than just another thing standing in their way from living life to the fullest extent. Through personal experience, I’ve realized that personal comfort is nothing more than a variety of fears that limit me from challenging myself.
...going to elementary school, along with my father studying and receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. At the age of 8, my family moved to Dallas, Texas because my father got a job there. My little brother started kindergarten, and we lived there for 2 years, and moved again to Montreal, Canada, when I was going into 5th grade. I had to take one French class because it was the second language of Quebec, a state in Canada where Montreal was located in. But it was fascinating to learn a new language other than my mother language and English. I spent 2 years in Montreal, and then finally in 7th grade, I moved to Denver, Colorado. I had to move from different places and schools, which partially was a disruption to my education and partially not because I learned the different cultures that exists in just two different countries, located in the same continent.
I am by myself wearing my blue jeans and an old flannel shirt. It is cool outside but I decided to leave my gloves at home, feeling comfortable with my warm shirt and my sturdy boots.
Imagine there's a knock at the door that echoes throughout the house. An older man struggling to stand up. He’s the man of the house; he walks to the entry and opens the door, seeing his only son back from active duty. Tears well up in his eyes as he embraces his son; feeling the nick of the cold weather on his uniform. The mother hears the laughter from the kitchen and rushes over.
It was the day before Christmas Eve and normal families would be wrapping last minute presents, but we were not. It was the same type of weather, cold and with the reflection from the sun to the snow. At last, the car stopped and was put in park. There was a ceremony for the soldiers where the governor, and other important people I don’t know the name of, were. It was about two hours later when I got to hug her, and tears dripped from my eyes like raindrops coming down from the clouds. You will never know if they will come back home once they leave for that certain purpose. You will never know when you gave them the last hug before they left, will be their last. Luckily for her, my sister, and the rest of her unit, they all came back safe and
October 12th 2013, I walked into a room with no clue of how drastic my life was going to change from that moment on. It had come in a time where I was not doing well, I was falling down a very dark rabbit hole and this audition was the first step I took to climb out of it. That day changed me. I felt alive again, I felt like I could begin to be myself again. Days after I received a call with the news that I had been chosen to join 4 other boys as part of a male group.
It started like any other day, I was running late. I had slept though my alarm and nearly slept through my parents calling me. I was lucky that my mom called to see if I was up. If my mother had not call me, I would have missed English class completely. I was already a half an hour late for this class.