day 81: the USMC

Military Photo Challenge Day 5: Post a pic of your husband's branch of service and one thing you like about it

Is there any other sight more recognizable with the Marine Corps than this?

I think not.

(and, while the Iwo Jima Memorial is at hand, it is, by the way, my most favorite breakfast spot in the great city of Washington, D. C. For a few years now, on my annual trip there, we get up really early, grab some fresh and albeit square Cosi bagels, and sit on the cement steps in the distance behind the memorial and take it all in. The bright sun quickly rising, the Washington Monument off in the distance, the reverence of the whole place. And, if you're really lucky, you'll be there on the precise morning that the Marines from 8th and I are there practicing for the Sunset Parade at the start of May; remembering that one morning still gives me chills.)

Okay, back to the question :)

One thing I like about the Marine Corps? Even though I dabble with having a love-hate relationship with the MC, I could list a few things I like. Above all else, it's the sense of family I have with the other Marines and their families in our unit. Our connection from shared or similar experiences is strong. Although all our Marines are different, there is so much similarity between our thoughts, our routines, our fears, that ties us together. I know that I could call upon any one of them (well, okay, all but a handful of them, anyways), for something I needed help with, and they'd be here in a heartbeat; and if they couldn't, they would move mountains to see that I got what I needed. This I know because I've done it before, and the Marine Corps family has proved strong, dependable, and true each and every time. (Guess that little motto proves true, huh? Semper fi.)

The other things I like aren't as huge or meaningful. For one, I know no other group of people who can successfully pull off a black and blue color combo in one outfit and yet make it look so darn good. There is just something about a man in uniform, too. Secretly, I love how ASC is so hesitant to ever wear his blues in public because of all the attention it'll bring, because secretly, I love that attention. I love how the Corps is steeped in tradition, how there's so much symbolism and such rich history. I love how there are so many niceties provided to military families--discounts, free admissions, special privileges, etc., although those can never come close to making up the sacrifices we must give to live this lifestyle.

ASC and I have had the conversation several times before on when/if he should get out. Honestly, that conversation always scares me, because I cannot imagine my life without the Marine Corps. Since I've known him, I've known the Marines. It is so deeply entwined into who I am and who we are as a couple and as a family that I cannot picture me or us without it. So even on days when I am teetering on the verge of the "hate relationship" with the Marine Corps, I am proud to say that I am part of that family (yes, even coming from a wife who's husband is deployed....imagine that).