Today’s theme is: Memory.
My memory I chose is of my husband, Bobby’s, 8 years of service in the US Army. These years made up a large portion of our lives, and even though we had many hardships while serving, his years in the Military brought us to where we are today.
Bobby left for the Army in November 1997, when our son Christopher was just 16 days old. He saw him again 1 months later for Christmas (when this picture was taken) and then not again until our son was nearly 6 months old.
In 2002-2004 Bobby spent two years overseas; one year in S. Korea (near the N. Korea border) and then 2 weeks after we were reunited in Colorado, he left for a year in Iraq. This picture was taken during his R&R from Iraq, notice how underweight he is?
This picture was taken on my birthday, on March 17th, 2004; the day Bobby returned from Iraq. Even though he got home at 11:45pm, those 15 minutes he was home on my birthday was the best birthday gift ever. Sorry the quality is so poor, my old camera did not do well in the dark.
This picture was taken 6 months after he came home from Iraq, while he was in Texas for training. The funny thing about this picture is that he made Sargent right before he left for Iraq, but he did not get the required training until 18 months after he was pinned. This training is supposed to take place before the soldier is pinned; but because of the urgent need to get our troops overseas, he made his rank before the training.
Finally, this picture was taken less than a month after he left the Army, he injured his shoulder in Iraq and after 2 failed surgeries he left the Army on a medical discharge.
I would not change those 8 years for anything. It made our marriage strong, our family close and got him the career he has today. There is nothing like difficult times to strengthen the bond of a family and to remind us how precious the time we have together truly is.
33 Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Bobby, Meme, Photo Hunter, Photography. | #
