ENTRY #1: Aaron & Laceine - July 21, 2012

Aaron and I met during the summer of 2002 while working at McDonald’s.  I had been working there for a while and had to take some time off work as I was going on a month long mission trip to Australia.  While I was overseas Aaron had started working there.  Upon my return we were scheduled together frequently and we became friends.  After a few months my parents asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, to which I responded that I would like to go out on the boat as a family and I would like to invite a friend to join us.  It was then that I worked up the courage to ask Aaron if he would like to join my family and myself for a day on the lake.

Aaron and I were pretty much inseparable after that.  If he wasn’t in school and I wasn’t at work we could usually be found together; whether I was over at his house spending time with his family, or we were out with his friends bowling, watching movies or at the football games or whether he was out with my family on the boat or at our house spending time and helping us build our home.

Aaron was always someone that I could count on and someone that my family loved.  After 3 ½ great years together I hit a rebellious stage and I felt the need to get away from the small town I grew up in and explore what was available.  I ended up abruptly walking away from my relationship with Aaron and began making life changes.  Over that next year I moved downstate where I could start living “big city dreams”.  No sooner than a week after I left home tragedy rocked my family with the unexpected death of my mother.  I had not spoken to Aaron in nearly a year at that time, however I felt that I needed to talk to him as my family loved him and in their eyes he was still very much a part of the family.  He immediately arrived at my parent’s home to comfort and give his support which I thought was a very stand up thing to do given the fact I had walked out on him a year prior.  He stood by my family’s side that week and attended my mother’s memorial service.  A few months after that started out on his lifelong dream and joined the Army to fly helicopters and he left for boot camp.  Upon completion of boot camp he attended my families Christmas party and after that we were at the point that we could be friends and talk to each other again.

I spoke to Aaron occasionally over the next few years through e-mail about his new life in the Army and how much he seemed to be enjoying it.  We also spoke about how my family’s life had been turned upside down in the recent years with the death of my mother and the fact that my father too had been taken from us.  Aaron was very comforting whenever I needed to talk to him about my family.

Aaron then left for a year-long tour in Afghanistan.  The time difference and our daily schedules did not allow us to speak much, however we were able to connect every once in a while.  One evening we were online talking and I asked him who all he was able to keep in contact with.  When he replied no one really it broke my heart.  Here he was in a war zone and he didn’t have anyone to talk to on a normal basis other than weekly phone calls to his family.  It was at that point that I made an attempt to be online every night possible so he would be able to talk to someone before he left for work.

Feelings immediately started rushing back about all of the great times that we had over the 3 ½ years that we were together.  After talking on a daily basis for a little more than a month we decided we were going to give it a try again.  Not too long after that Aaron was able to take a two week leave from Afghanistan to come home and visit his family.  I was able to spend two weekends with him and his family and they welcomed me back with open arms, as if nothing had ever happened.  The comments we received from family members and friends about us being back together were so inspiring to me.  After two weeks of being home Aaron had to leave to go back to Afghanistan for another three months.

Those next three months seemed to drag by.  I just wanted to be with him, I wanted to be able to hug him and be able to hear his voice without a constant delay from the telephone.  The time ended up pasting and Aaron was able to return stateside by Thanksgiving.  He was not allowed to leave as they had a lot of paperwork to do from just returning home and I wasn’t going to let him spend Thanksgiving alone so I drove down to Fort Campbell.  I was finally able to spend time with him and see what his “Army life” was all about, and I loved it.  We decided that I was going to move down to Fort Campbell to be with him so just after Christmas I packed up everything and away I went.

We have been living together down here at Fort Campbell for just over a year now and I am so glad that I was able to experience this part of his life with him.  Aaron proposed to me on December 10, 2010 and on January 11, 2011 we eloped.  Aaron will be leaving for a year-long deployment in Afghanistan within the next few weeks.  I have been trying to prepare myself for what a year alone without him is going to be like, and I just can’t imagine it.  Now that I have him back, I don’t want to let him go.  He is everything to me.  All I can do is pray that he is safe and that the time goes by fast.  I look forward to the day that he returns from Afghanistan so we can be together again.

Upon Aaron’s return we will be having a vow renewal and re-commitment ceremony for our friends and family on July 21, 2012.

*VOTE FOR THIS COUPLE BY LEAVING A COMMENT BELOW. 

Only one comment per person per story, however, you can comment on as many stories as you wish!*

VOTING BEGINS ON VALENTINE'S DAY