A Proud Marine Corps Memory!

Today I received a box from my dad in the mail. He had sent DS a gift and then sent me an old purse (one that I've had since high school) that he FINALLY got rid of by giving it back to me! I trashed the OH SO OUTDATED purse but found treasures inside. Of the money, old receipts, some OLD Mary Kay lipstick, was a charm. Not just ANY charm. A charm I received just a few short months after hubby and I got married.

And the story goes:
I was working at my first hotel job in California, a newly wed. Just shy of our one year wedding anniversary. 19 years old trying to figure out how to be a Marine Corps wifey. Hubby was gone on his first deployment on a six month MEU (ship tour) in the middle of the sea somewhere. I was a breakfast hostess during that time. I loved talking to people, especially other military families (The hotel was 1/4 mile to the north gate at Camp Pendleton). There was a Marine Corps Officer and his family staying at the hotel as they were waiting on base housing to get their 'act' together and give them their keys. They stayed at the hotel for a few weeks. Mrs. Officer was such a sweet lady. She gave me some wonderful milspouse advice. When it was time for them to check out she came up to the breakfast area and gave me a gift. It was this:

 A Marine Corps dress cover (hat) with the Eagle Globe and Anchor on the top. This was a very special moment for me. It made me very emotional as my hubby had just left a month before on his ship tour. I remember Mrs. Officer saying to me "Welcome to the family!" They will be a family I will never forget.

The military community is such a close community. We really hold tight to those we love and to the new "family" members we gain.

Advice for all my milies, take all the support and advice that you can get. You can learn from it and grow from it. For some of us we have been through deployments and know what to expect and to the "sisterhood" that a wife joins.

Semper Gumby ladies!

P.S. Thank you Dad for sending my old purse. What a treasure hunt inside it!

Did you enter the Happy Heinys Cloth Diaper Giveaway yet? Enter HERE!