Earlier today I was reading a friend's blog about her situation with her ex and the kids and I found myself thankful for where I am in life. Josh and I met in July 1999 and have been together since. Some times it's hard to believe it's been 12 years. I should be thankful Josh likes his women a little on the crazy side. We dated on again off again for 4 years before both taking orders that eventually took us both to Guam. December 2002 six months after I arrive on Guam Josh and the crew of the USS San Francisco arrive on island. Josh and I got married March 10, 2003 and its been one heck of a roller coaster ride ever since. God knows our relationship isn't perfect and we have had our fair share of blow ups and threats of separation and divorce and disagreements about how to parent our child. Josh and I each have our own ideas about what it means to be a parent. I am more interactive with Eric on a regular basis and Josh kind of keeps his distance because he feels as a parent he can't be both friend/playmate and disciplinarian. I can see and understand the logic in that but at the same time I don't want Eric to be so afraid of his father that he can't approach him and talk to him about things. He should be looking up to his father and wanting to be like his father and not be afraid of his father. Maybe he should be concerned that his father will be disappointed in his choices and actions but not afraid that his father will hurt him or hate him.
When I met Josh he was a hard drinking, hard living sailor who thought no harm no foul as long as he didn't do harm to anyone else. I stood by him even though I didn't quite agree with how he was living. He has recently had to make some choices to change the way he was living because it did have an effect on others around him. His faith and his belief in God has strengthened and he's made changes to better himself and by extension to better the life of his family. We've had some rough patches in all the time we've been together but they are smooth by comparison to others. I guess some would say we've lived a charmed life. We've been lucky enough to have a solid life. We've worked hard. I'm able to stay home and care for my son full time because of decent money management. We have three vehicles fully paid for and in decent condition.
Currently Josh is attending law school out of state full time and we can afford it because of a scholarship and his GI Bill benefits. I'm still able to stay home with Eric instead of having to go out and work full time just to make ends meet. His retirement pay covers two mortgages, car insurance, and other bills and still leaves funds for me to grocery shop when needed. The payment he gets for housing allowance from his GI Bill goes directly to pay his credit card. We are working with much less then he was making when he was on active duty but I'm doing well with making it work to our benefit.
I have so very much to be thankful for. We are truly blessed to be where we are in life. I know there are people who are better off and worse off then we are. The reason our situation is stable is because we are both very cautious about how we approach things and we put our faith in God. If He brings us to it He will bring us through it.
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