Looking back

It is hard to believe that Roger and I have been married for 15 years, but it is true. When we got married in 1993, we were 19 and Roger was an E-3 in the Signal Corp of the Army. Now he is a Captain in the Medical Corp. Of our 15 years of marriage, Roger was active duty for 7 and reserve for 4. The Army has moved us five times. Together we have lived in three cities, two apartments and three houses. We spent one year apart when Roger was in Korea. Since we have been married we have visited 6 foreign countries and almost half of the US States. Together we weathered getting out of the Army, college, new jobs, medical school, going back in the Army and of course parenthood.

Our lives are vastly different now 15 years later. In 1993 a personal computer cost over $2000 new, so we did not own one. Now we own three. No one we knew had cell phones, now we each have one along with over 60% of the world. When we got married we had one car, a Plymouth Sundance that was 5 years old. Now we have an 8 year old Saturn and a 4 year old Honda CRV. Funny though, our insurance is about half it was then. When we got married we lived in a one bedroom duplex that was about 500 square feet and now we live in a 2000 sq foot 4 bedroom house with a two car garage.

When we got married we each had three grandparents that were living. All of Roger's grandparents are gone now and we lost my Grandpa Counsell 5 years ago. Both of our fathers were with us 15 years ago and now they are both gone. My dad didn't see me finish graduate school but Roger's dad did get to see him receive his MD.

I had a year and a half of college when we got married. Roger had not started yet. Now between the two of us we have five degrees. Roger started classes while in Korea after being encouraged to start classes by his buddy Paul. He finished his AS while he was still in the Army, with Honors of course. All told, he has taken classes from five colleges. I have taken classes from two, receiving both degrees from Augusta State.

We have two children now. Just like we planned, only not in the way we planned at all. Jena was born five years after we started trying. We thought we'd be arguing about whether or not to have a third child instead we were having our first. Over four years we saw four doctors and tried several medications. Finally after surgery, we were pregnant with Jena. Lily, on the other hand, came with no help at all. I imagine this is why they personalities are so different. Jena is quite intense while Lily is very laid back. But even though it didn't happen the way we planned, I'm not sure I would have changed any of it. I learned a lot about myself in the process and the girls are great just how they are.

I would say our life is vastly different from how we thought it would be when we got married. At that point I wanted to be a lawyer and continue working after I had children. I'm not exactly sure when I decided I would take a different career path. I guess I really loved my business classes and lost interest in the law. I decided to take a break from work after Jena was born. I'm sure my younger self would question that decision but it is one I have no regrets about.

Roger wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do with his life at first. He told me he wanted to be a doctor during the first year of our marriage. While he had never said it out load, it didn't surprise me. Neither one of us had any idea how hard that path would be for both of us. It wasn't a straight path for Roger, but I think the turns along the way have helped him to be a better doctor. While medicine was always the plan, Army medicine was not. But in the end neither of us could imagine Roger in another program.

So, here we are 15 years later. A little older, a lot grayer. We have both grown up a lot. Life has a funny way of making that happen. We have been through a lot, both good and bad. And all of these things have made us the people we are today.