Here in a couple of days, my Dustin and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. I thought it would be a great time to share our love story–how we came to be. It’s a pretty cool story even if I do say so myself. But to tell it, I have to take you back 17 years, before we even knew the other existed.
Most of my childhood and teenage years, I was set on being a veterinarian. It was a good thing, too, because I am a die-hard K-State fan and K-State is one of the best veterinarian schools in the country. But, through a series of events my sophomore and junior years of high school, that dream dramatically changed. Going into my senior year of high school, my career goal was to be in the FBI. Quite a switch, huh? Upon graduation from high school, I was accepted to K-State and I decided to major in Criminology. Finally where I always wanted to be, I immersed myself in all things K-State and relished the fact that I was a bonafide Wildcat. I played trumpet in the K-State marching band, lived in the dorms, and was your typical freshman.
Dustin’s mom married a military man when he was around ten years of age. Having grown up in California all his life, he was quickly introduced to life as a military dependent. His step-father, Jim, was in the Army and Dustin’s family moved to Monterey, CA, Steilacoom, WA, and then on to Leavenworth, KS. They moved to Leavenworth before Dustin’s junior year of high school and, crazy as it sounds, we were only 11 miles apart. Dustin had a desire to go to the Air Force Academy where he dreamed of one day being a pilot. If not there, than he wanted to go to school someplace in California. He did all the necessary paperwork required to get accepted to the Air Force Academy, which is no small feat. He also filled out all his admission work for other universities in California, in case the Academy didn’t work out.
But, one day his senior year in high school, someone broke into his jeep and took his backpack. Nothing else was taken except all his school admission paperwork–months and months of work just gone. There was no time to do it all over again and so Dustin had to regroup his thoughts. Seeing as he wanted to be an engineer, K-State seemed like the most logical choice, since it has a fantastic engineering school. So, never having given K-State a thought before, he now found himself enrolling at a school he knew nothing about. He thought about joining the marching band, but at the last second he decided not to. His instrument–trumpet. Instead he became a cadet in Air Force ROTC and focused his energy on school and becoming a future officer.
Life was going well at K-State for me. At the end of my sophomore year, there was a career day at the student union and I had heard that the FBI was going to be there. I decided that it would be wise to go speak with a representative from the FBI to see if I was doing all I needed to do in order to someday be accepted. I went and found the FBI table and met a nice man there. He answered many of my questions, but it was the last one that changed my life forever. “So, what do I need to do to get into the FBI?”
“Go get a law degree or join the military,” was his reply back to me. The military. I had never in my entire life thought about entering the military, but I was dead-set on being in the FBI one day. So, I found myself walking home and toying with the thought of joining ROTC. I had not a single clue about anything that had to do with ROTC or being an officer, but when I got home I found myself calling the Air Force ROTC office on campus and asking how to join. It was a crazy, spontaneous move, but I felt compelled. Since it was the end of the school year, I was told that I would join up next year and start ROTC as a junior. I was very excited when I hung up the phone.
I will never forget my first day of ROTC. I was so nervous when I walked through the doors. I didn’t know if I had to salute people or stand at attention or what. Since I hadn’t been issued a uniform yet, me and the other newbies where walking around in civilian clothes, while all the other cadets were decked out in their blue uniforms. In ROTC, you have to take classes on military history, officership, etc, so I was there for my first class. I don’t remember what class it was, but I do remember that when I stepped inside that classroom I saw the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on sitting across the room in his blue uniform. At this point in time, I was engaged to another guy from back home, but I knew, in that instant, that it was over. It was like finding the missing piece to a part of you that you didn’t know was missing, but when you find it, you can never let it go. That was Dustin–he was my missing piece. Imagine my devastation when I found out he had a serious girlfriend.
Obviously, we broke up with our significant others of that time or I wouldn’t be writing this blog. We were both secretly in love with each other, but it took some time to cut the strings of old relationships. I often marvel at the way God brought us together, because it’s no doubt that He did. I look at all the steps that were taken to get us to that one moment in time of me walking into that classroom that hot day in August of 99′ and it still gives me chills.
Dustin didn’t become a pilot and I didn’t become a FBI agent. That’s okay, I think we got the better deal. I had to go into ROTC to find him. Dustin took up home in my heart the day I met him and he has been living there ever since. It’s a pretty amazing experience when you see the other half of your soul sitting across a room looking as handsome as they come. I thank God everyday for the gift of our marriage and the fact that I found my missing piece.
Most of my childhood and teenage years, I was set on being a veterinarian. It was a good thing, too, because I am a die-hard K-State fan and K-State is one of the best veterinarian schools in the country. But, through a series of events my sophomore and junior years of high school, that dream dramatically changed. Going into my senior year of high school, my career goal was to be in the FBI. Quite a switch, huh? Upon graduation from high school, I was accepted to K-State and I decided to major in Criminology. Finally where I always wanted to be, I immersed myself in all things K-State and relished the fact that I was a bonafide Wildcat. I played trumpet in the K-State marching band, lived in the dorms, and was your typical freshman.
Dustin’s mom married a military man when he was around ten years of age. Having grown up in California all his life, he was quickly introduced to life as a military dependent. His step-father, Jim, was in the Army and Dustin’s family moved to Monterey, CA, Steilacoom, WA, and then on to Leavenworth, KS. They moved to Leavenworth before Dustin’s junior year of high school and, crazy as it sounds, we were only 11 miles apart. Dustin had a desire to go to the Air Force Academy where he dreamed of one day being a pilot. If not there, than he wanted to go to school someplace in California. He did all the necessary paperwork required to get accepted to the Air Force Academy, which is no small feat. He also filled out all his admission work for other universities in California, in case the Academy didn’t work out.
But, one day his senior year in high school, someone broke into his jeep and took his backpack. Nothing else was taken except all his school admission paperwork–months and months of work just gone. There was no time to do it all over again and so Dustin had to regroup his thoughts. Seeing as he wanted to be an engineer, K-State seemed like the most logical choice, since it has a fantastic engineering school. So, never having given K-State a thought before, he now found himself enrolling at a school he knew nothing about. He thought about joining the marching band, but at the last second he decided not to. His instrument–trumpet. Instead he became a cadet in Air Force ROTC and focused his energy on school and becoming a future officer.
Life was going well at K-State for me. At the end of my sophomore year, there was a career day at the student union and I had heard that the FBI was going to be there. I decided that it would be wise to go speak with a representative from the FBI to see if I was doing all I needed to do in order to someday be accepted. I went and found the FBI table and met a nice man there. He answered many of my questions, but it was the last one that changed my life forever. “So, what do I need to do to get into the FBI?”
“Go get a law degree or join the military,” was his reply back to me. The military. I had never in my entire life thought about entering the military, but I was dead-set on being in the FBI one day. So, I found myself walking home and toying with the thought of joining ROTC. I had not a single clue about anything that had to do with ROTC or being an officer, but when I got home I found myself calling the Air Force ROTC office on campus and asking how to join. It was a crazy, spontaneous move, but I felt compelled. Since it was the end of the school year, I was told that I would join up next year and start ROTC as a junior. I was very excited when I hung up the phone.
I will never forget my first day of ROTC. I was so nervous when I walked through the doors. I didn’t know if I had to salute people or stand at attention or what. Since I hadn’t been issued a uniform yet, me and the other newbies where walking around in civilian clothes, while all the other cadets were decked out in their blue uniforms. In ROTC, you have to take classes on military history, officership, etc, so I was there for my first class. I don’t remember what class it was, but I do remember that when I stepped inside that classroom I saw the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on sitting across the room in his blue uniform. At this point in time, I was engaged to another guy from back home, but I knew, in that instant, that it was over. It was like finding the missing piece to a part of you that you didn’t know was missing, but when you find it, you can never let it go. That was Dustin–he was my missing piece. Imagine my devastation when I found out he had a serious girlfriend.
Obviously, we broke up with our significant others of that time or I wouldn’t be writing this blog. We were both secretly in love with each other, but it took some time to cut the strings of old relationships. I often marvel at the way God brought us together, because it’s no doubt that He did. I look at all the steps that were taken to get us to that one moment in time of me walking into that classroom that hot day in August of 99′ and it still gives me chills.
Dustin didn’t become a pilot and I didn’t become a FBI agent. That’s okay, I think we got the better deal. I had to go into ROTC to find him. Dustin took up home in my heart the day I met him and he has been living there ever since. It’s a pretty amazing experience when you see the other half of your soul sitting across a room looking as handsome as they come. I thank God everyday for the gift of our marriage and the fact that I found my missing piece.
