Long distance. If you’re in a relationship with someone in the military, it’s very likely you’re going to experience a long distance relationship at some point in time. Maybe it’s for training, maybe it’s a deployment, either way, it’s pretty common in the military.
Jett and I have been long distance since the very beginning and still are. Yupp, you read that right. We are married and in a long distance relationship.
The main reason Jett and I are long distance is because I am a fiercely independent, career-driven woman. Since high school, I’ve known I wanted to work in sports. The specific capacity within sports I wanted to work in changed as I got older and experienced new things, but the field of sport has always been constant. It’s very hard to break into the sports industry and once I got my foot in the door and began to experience my dream come true, I just couldn’t give it up.
“I am a fiercely independent, career-driven woman.”
At first, we lived only four hours apart. Jett was at the Naval Academy and I was working at my alma mater, Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Virginia. About six months after we met I got a job offer at the University of Kanas and moved halfway across the country. Jett was still in college so the distance still wasn’t a big deal. He couldn’t leave the Naval Academy during the week and played baseball so he was traveling often on what free time he did have.
I only stayed at KU for 11 months before moving again. In February of 2017, I moved to Georgia for my current role as the Social Media Coordinator for the Gwinnett Stripers, the Atlanta Braves Triple-A baseball team. A few months after I moved, Jett graduated from the Naval Academy. He was going to be an Officer in the Marines Corps and would have to attend The Basic School at Quantico, Virginia in the fall. He was able to stay in Annapolis over the summer before TBS started and he came to visit Georgia a lot.
In a story for another time, Jett was delayed in starting TBS and then was delayed twice in starting the Infantry Officer’s Course. So, we’re still doing the distance thing. As typical in the military, you don’t really get to make plans. You just wait for the military to tell you what you’re going to do and then do it… or wait around as they change the plan again, and again. So that’s where we’re at.
Long distance isn’t easy, but if both parties live near large airport hubs and one of you has an airline credit card it’s doable(I have a Southwest card, contact me with any questions)! Jett and I have managed to see each other about every two to three weeks for quite a while now. It’s not exactly how we imagined our marriage, but we’re making the best of it.
Of course, I would love to have the best of both worlds and be married and living with Jett while working my dream job, but that’s just not reality right now. Jett and I have our whole lives to live together. My career is very important to me. I see myself as continuing to blaze a trail for other women to succeed in sports, a male-dominated industry. The passion I have for my work is a reason Jett was initially attracted to me. Plus, he gets great perks and awesome bragging rights!
I don’t know exactly when we will live together, where it will be, or what it will look like. But for now, I’m embracing the stage of life we’re at and making sure to diligent in my career to ensure that our sacrifice is worth it.
And to anyone who has an opinion on the “situation” Jett and I are in, or think they have reason to judge us- Guess what? Rachel Hollis said it best in Girl, Wash Your Face, “Someone else’s opinion of you is none of your business.” You can take your thoughts and keep them to yourself.
Usually, in life, there are two sides to every decision. I could live with Jett and potentially harbor resentment over the fact that I had to leave my career, or I could work on my career and feel guilty about not fully committing to our relationship. It’s up to you and your man to make these decisions together. Which is the lesser of two evils? Which can you live with? Which can you not?
To everyone out there living long distance day-to-day, keep it up. Feel free to reach out to me and we can talk about it. If you are feeling pressured to follow your military man somewhere and that means giving up on part of your dream, drop me a line and we can talk that out too. Whatever you need, I’ll do what I can to help you out. Til then- power on!
