A Soldier’s Sacrifice
Back when I was married to my first husband, I had a one-year-old baby and we were traveling during Christmas. At the time, my ex was deployed in the United Arab Emirates and it made me a tired mess. The flight was delayed due to a snowstorm, then it was canceled. A few of the passengers sit around the gate sharing sad stories when one man in the army explains that he’s headed home to see for Christmas to see his little girl. Suddenly an announcement comes up and a few people get seats on the next flight. My daughter was crying, and I was on the verge of crying with her when a rep calls my name. The soldier had given up his seat for me. I insisted that he retakes his seat when he says, “any military husband would do the same for my wife.” I got to spend Christmas with my family, and he didn’t.
A Whole New Wardrobe
I’d just left college and I was lucky to get a tech job, but I was vastly underpaid. I worked 40+ hours a week, with no benefits, and they constantly messed up my taxes; it was a bad situation. There was a business casual dress code, but all of my clothes from college were worn through and coming apart. One day, my roommate’s mother shows up at our apartment and gives me a stack of clothes, all my size, and tells me that she got them for her husband who didn’t want it. A month later, I was invited to their house and I noticed that I was nearly 6 inches taller and 50 pounds lighter than her husband. She got them for me and lied to spare my pride.