Army Strong

Jeremy will be leaving for Army Basic training at Fort Jackson this February 2013. To some of you this might come as a surprise  but we are extremely excited for this new chapter in our lives. When I met Jeremy in college he wanted to join the Coast Guard; however he was dating a Colorado native and as you can imagine there aren't many coasts to guard in that land-locked state. So he graduated with his bachelors in Hospitality Management and started his career with Hilton.

Jeremy thrives in a team oriented, high-stress environment and thus he did extremely well in hotels. We were married and eventually moved for a hotel promotion to Massachusetts and to be near the ocean. Things were as perfect as two people could ask for, but there was something missing. Jeremy didn't feel like he was accomplishing anything that really mattered regarding hotels. It was right around this time my old job in Colorado offered me a promotion and we returned to our home state. Jeremy took this time to soul search and decided that he really wanted to serve the people. He was hired on with a Denver-area police force and did exceptionally well. However, he still didn't feel like it was the correct place for him for many reasons.

After a lot of discussion and soul-searching he decided he should go back to working for Hilton. Again, he did exceptionally well he was promoted. This time we moved to Maryland... but again something was missing. I reminded Jeremy of when he wanted to join the Coast Guard all of those years ago and that is what sparked our Army journey. It turns out that Jeremy, who is 29, was too old for the Coast Guard; but that didn't stop him for finding the right opportunity to serve. After talking with the Army recruiter he was hooked. At first I was nervous, because we had already been through so much change. What if this opportunity wasn't the right one? And then I read the Army Creed "...a member of a team... serve the people... never accept defeat... never quit, never leave... disciplined... trained... professional... guardian of freedom..." It was finally a "job description" that fit my husband.



We have gotten many questions as to why is he joining now, at his age and leaving a good career that he excels in? To those questions he responds, "Why should it only be our young people who serve? Why not someone who has a little more life-experience, who has lead and managed people and lived through some of the stresses of life? Why can’t I protect my family, freedom and land that I love?"

We know there will be challenges, bumps and changes ahead. But I honestly couldn't be more proud of Jeremy and of this decision we made for our family.