An ex.....

When I first became an ex-wife, I hated the prefix "ex." It made me feel less, like w/out a husband I was half a person.

I married 'O' because I became pregnant w/our first son. He didn't hesitate to ask me once we found out, and within two weeks we were married and on our way to Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina, where he was stationed. I disliked that place. I was without my family, friends, pregnant and newly married, soon to be a mom. I thought when my son was born that I'd be happier, but instead, I probably experienced post partum depression. Thankfully, we were only there a year when 'O' got orders to Honolulu, Hawaii. Everything changed, for the better.

That place was magic. I loved my job, we were surrounded by the ocean everywhere we went, what's not to love! We lived a mile from the stadium, so for the 3 years we were there, we went to the pro-bowl every year. I got pregnant w/my second son, he was born at Tripler Army Hospital (the pearl on the hill). Life was awesome and we had nothing. Our extravagant purchase the third year we were there was to buy a new car. Other than that, we lived on his unlisted E-5 pay. But then the orders came.

Olympia, Washington (Fort Lewis), another amazing, beautiful, majestic place. Thank God we were only there a year though. I need sun! The only months of sunshine were in June, July and August. We were there in 1986, and talk about timing, the World's Fair was in Vancouver so we went north for a weekend and got to experience a once in a lifetime event. We took a detour thru Victoria Station and I know I keep repeating myself, but beautiful doesn't even begin to describe that place. We then took the ferry back to Port Angeles and saw even more beautiful country. My favorite memory of Olympia is from where we lived, we had the most amazing view of Mt. Rainier. I called her the ghost mountain because it appeared to float on thin air. Ok, one more time....beautiful!!

Next came Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Everyone should get to experience living around our nations capital. We would go to DC every chance we could, and thankfully that was often. We lived there 3 years and were sad to leave, since we held good jobs and plus, you just get tired of moving. Next stop was Fort Sam in San Antonio, TX. We didn't stay long since 'O' was in school and then he got orders for the Gulf War. He brought the boys and I home to ABQ in 1991 and we've been here since.

I know I haven't explained why I'm an ex, but really, who cares. It fell apart, slowly, but surely. It wasn't what I wanted...to be an ex, but I'm also not bitter about it either. I did what I needed to do for my boys and I feel good about it. Plus, God provided when I couldn't. Things were rough the first 4 years, mostly because I had to live w/my mom. Try being 36 and live w/your mom again, with two boys. That was a challenge, but we survived and really, I am truly thankful that I had a good home to live in and so did my sons. I was finally able to buy my house in 2000, which I consider my slice of heaven on earth :).

So I've filled in most of the blanks of who I am. If there's anything you'd like to know, ask...I'm pretty open.