8 years and counting...

Eight years ago, my husband was on patrol in Afghanistan on his forth operational tour. His Sergeant was trying to set us up on a blind date. Chris asked – “So what is she like?” He replied: “Loves the booze mate. Loves the booze!” “Is she pretty? Is she funny?” "Loves the booze mate. Loves the booze!” Surprisingly, he still wanted to meet me and the week he got back we met with some friends and before we'd even said hello I knocked back a tequila. (God, I used to be fun.) I remember my mum texting to ask how it was going and I replied something corny and she said ‘best buy a hat!’ Never would have thought years down the line she would. 8 years together. 3 years married. 4 house moves all across he country. 2 gorgeous boys – and not forgetting Yankee. It will be our official ‘changed our relationship status on Facebook’ anniversary on Tuesday (we pretty much got drunk together for first few weeks!)

You meet someone in the military and you don’t imagine how hard it will be. You open up your life to them but then you also have to learn to get on with your life without them whether that be days, weeks or months and months. Some weeks without any contact and every day, even if they are in the country you never know when they will ring. Or whether you can get a hold of them. Or when you do speak to them, sometimes it’s just a conversation of “I can’t hear you. What? What? Fucking signal!" And it can be lonely. I’ve lived miles away from family, lived round the corner from family – either way, it’s lonely. Throw in kids, a dog, a mortgage, him still not knowing where to put his dirty washing (NOT ON THE FLOOR) and some lows – and some amazing highs – we are still here. Like all relationships it's hard but I’m lucky that I get to miss someone everyday. And it can be romantic. Writing letters and the excitement of that blue envelope coming through the door. It also makes you appreciate the small things. The things you don’t think you’ll miss but you do. It’s been quite the adventure these past eight years – but wouldn’t want to go through life without anyone else. How did you meet your partner? Love hearing other people’s stories! Please tell me I’m not the only one whose involved tequila!