In late '06 early '07 I was 17 and still in high school, working at an IHOP, and talking to a recruiter at the time about joining the Army Reserves (grandmother has health problems and wanted to stay near by for her). I met a young man one night one my shift his name was Nathan and we got to talking while I took his order, he was in town for the weekend from Ft. Sill to visit his family. He quickly became my regular customer and a good friend. We would talk about the Army and what I should expect, or movies and video games things of the sort. Time came and went then I shipped for basic training at Ft. Jackson, then off to AIT at Aberdeen Proving grounds, when I got my cell phone privileges back he would talk with me still and help me when I was feeling down and missed home. I finally made it through and was ecstatic to let him know I would finally be coming home! When i finally got to baggage claim I saw my mom, and then out of the corner of my I i caught him there, and ran to give him a hug hello, they were the only ones to greet me. I found out later he had skipped out on seeing family and going to a concert he had looked forward to just to make sure I wasn't waiting alone for a ride when I got back. Now we are both out of the Army and December 4th we will have been married for 3 years and have 2 beautiful precious little girls. My husband finished his time as an E-3 Field artillery man and I finished as an E-4 Quartermaster and chemical equipment repair woman.

Jessica Smith
Amarillo, TX