The next few post are not the happiest, most uplifting thing you will probably read, but to tell it any other way would not be the truth. I'm being honest with myself and what I felt at the time. It's not the worst thing that could happen, I'm well aware of that.This is just was beginning of a hard struggle for me and God dealing with me in a way that most of my comforts were taken away. I believe that God allows us to go through struggles in this life for many reasons. Sometimes to learn a lesson, sometimes it may be to get us away from something that isn't best for us, or maybe it's simply to remind us that we are not home yet, and this world will never satisfy our yearning and need to be with our father in heaven.
Now back to the story...
One of my "jobs" as an army wife is to find housing for the next place that the army decides we are going. This my friends is not an easy task when you are hundreds of miles away. All you have is a budget and phone number, and you can only hope that during a temporary move you will be able to find an apartment complex willing to lease to you for three short months (Living on base was not an option for us.) It was four weeks before the move and I was completely lost. Every apartment within a 20 min radius to Ft.Lee didn't offer short term leases. This was my first time planning a "across states" move and I would often times find myself so overwhelmed. I would set in bed and cry after being turned down from apartment after apartment complex. I even tried reaching out to different churches in the community with no response each time. It can't be this hard...can it? I mean, isn't the military suppose to help? We never were offered any help as far as the military goes and at that time I had no way of finding out who could help! I had never heard of a sponsor before, which most enlisted ( for those of you non-military people means they chose to go through basic training and start off as an E-1) they are assigned. Sponsors help with trying to make your move as smooth as possible by helping you with any questions and finding a place to stay. As an officer Thomas was not assigned to one, or at least no one mentioned it to us. we were left to figure things out ourselves, which I hope to change one day! We both felt alone. Thrown to this new world with no information. To say this made me frustrated would be an understatement.
Then, the sickness of pregnancy came over me like the black plague! Two weeks before our move and no place to live in VA yet and I was confined to my bed. I couldn't eat, drink or think about a bad smell without upchucking my guts (sorry for the graphic nature!) My sister had a cat, and every time I walked out of the bedroom door I smelled that cat in new ways I never thought I could. In fact, I could smell EVERYTHING! I stayed locked up in my room for two weeks, only coming out to vomit, use the restroom, maybe shower if I had the strength, and to go to work (which was pretty much torture, but I had just been given a promotion and I couldn't not go in because often I would be the only manager.) I mean, how could such a bundle of cells make one so ill?! I would lay in bed and cry, I have never been sick for weeks before and it was getting to me emotionally. During this time I started feeling really sorry for people with terminal illnesses. I knew my pain would end, but that there are countless people in this world that live in pain everyday that have no end in sight...Anyways, that's another topic. Because of the sickness I was not able to continue my search for an apt. and Thomas had to take that job over, while at Ft.knox. I felt horrible about that, but nothing but sleep was on my mind. Call me a baby if you want, but pregnancy didn't agree with me at that time!
Thomas came to the rescue and found a place for us to stay...temporary housing. basically we would pay them thousands(yes that's plural) a month and they would provide us with an apt. loft...which means no bedroom doors, it's just one big open room for an apartment. They furnished it for us because we had no furniture...I sold it all when I moved in with my sister (BIG MISTAKE). Now, for those of you who don't know the military works on a "we'll pay ya back" system, so first months rent and cost to move..yep, that right, all out of pocket! Which means we had to save all we could. The Army would eventually pay us back..just on their time of course, which is usually 8-10 weeks later....Lovely right? :)
So the time had come! Moving day...and hurricane Irene was all over the news! In fact, we were scheduled to get to Petersburg right as the storm was to arrive! yay! Everything I owned fit into my nice new car (which we could finally afford, thank you Army!) Thomas took his stuff in his truck (which was way more stuff then I had!) I said my good byes to friends and family and we were off on our first big adventure!!! I was also ready for this. :)
The trip through KY and into VA was pretty uneventful. My doctor had given me some medicine to help with the nausea, and it was working! Around 6 pm we got to Richmond, VA. This is where the storm begins! The rain was beating so hard I couldn't see the driver in front of me, I knew Thomas was a few vehicles ahead of me but he was totally out of my field of view. I've never had to worry about hurricanes growing up in KY. So my welcome to Virginia and my new home was a lovely event named Irene! The winds were blowing so hard I thought I was going to get thrown off the road. I had the radio on and the new caster was urging people to stay off the road. Thomas and I were one of the few people on the road and I was able to catch up to his tail lights. I followed them though I could barley see. Okay...Looking back, should we have pulled over? probably! but we were really close to "home" and after 13 hours of driving we were ready to be there. Not only that, but this was not a storm that was going to pass through, it was going to be there way into the night, we didn't have much choice but to trek on! So I trusted the faded red lights ahead of me and we slowly made our way to the apartment.
We didn't blow away! We walked up to the apartment door and unlocked it. At first sight, it was nice. Then I saw the wall that had a shower of water streaming down from the ceiling...people, Irene had even followed us home, we had a leak! Not a little leak, the entire wall looked like a flowing water fall. So to make a long story short I called maintenance, they brought some sheets up and said it would have to wait until the hurricane was over. They also told us to prepare for a power outage. hmm, I couldn't help but think...is this a preloom of whats to come here in Virginia?...and in a way, looking back, I would have to say....yes.
The next part of my story is the hardest to write for me. That will be tomorrow, I've ran out of time today. Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue with my story.
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