It’s a Thursday, dinnertime. We’ve made the food, fed the children, and the house has dissolved into utter chaos. The older two girls are playing actual tag around my kitchen island, and Mae, who feels feelings and feels them big, is still upset that she didn’t get to eat goldfish for … [Read more...] about Military Marriage and Holding onto Love for the Long-haul.
husbands + wives
When Being a Military Wife Feels Too Hard
All five of us, miracle of miracles, sit at the dinner table, eating chicken that Lane grilled and potatoes that I made just like any other family in America. Our conversation drifts to the following weekend and I mention a BBQ that we have been invited to- can we go to that? “Oh, no, … [Read more...] about When Being a Military Wife Feels Too Hard
We Are the Lucky Ones: Sisterhood, Courage, and Love That’s Strong Like a Circle
After the ceremony, Brennan is driving with Lane in the back of his truck, she’s wearing her special pink floral dress because it twirls and he’s wearing his dress uniform because that’s what soldiers do with ceremonies this important. His boots are polished while her shoes sparkle, and she’s … [Read more...] about We Are the Lucky Ones: Sisterhood, Courage, and Love That’s Strong Like a Circle
On empathy, marriage, and when real love feels real hard
Sunday morning, I wake up with a sore throat and the three girls do the same. Canceled plans for the day turn into canceled plans for the week as all four of us are the sickest we’ve ever been over the longest amount of time. Tuesday evening of that week, girls in bed, Lane and I are on the couch … [Read more...] about On empathy, marriage, and when real love feels real hard
Building a Love for the Long Haul Even When It Feels Like Too Much Work
A long-running feud exists between Lane and I, and I am claiming neither guilt nor innocence as matters such as these are incredibly complex. Rather, I merely present the facts of a marriage, black and white, you decide. Lane and I graduated high school in 2001. This was a long time ago. All I know … [Read more...] about Building a Love for the Long Haul Even When It Feels Like Too Much Work
the inner workings of a marriage that’s real
The morning is quiet, simple, dark. I wake early, the 5:00 hour preferably, to be in the quiet, the simple, the dark. I arrive there, coffee cup in hand, laptop, well, in my lap, sitting in the still long before the day has any chance to go sideways on me. These are my moments, I tell myself, … [Read more...] about the inner workings of a marriage that’s real