Out of all the men in the world some girls choose the craziest option and that is to be a marine’s significant other. I’ve been dating my boyfriend who is a marine for about 8 months now and it has been a crazy road of ups and downs, happiness and tears, and also such a major change that was brought into my life. It is never easy for us women and can have many major affects on our lives both negative and positive. Some major affects are that you can never have anything permanent, it can keep you apart from one another for long periods of time, and lastly it can make you love each other 10 times more than any other regular couple out there.
I’m not to the point yet to where I have to start thinking about this but, most marine wives have to be on their toes at all times and be ready to either follow their marine wherever they go or be ready to say goodbye for a long while. “Prepare yourself for deployment. Marines are subject to deployment with very little notice” (Holley). Never knowing when and where your marine will be is always hard but part of being the significant other is being supportive and following them where they need to go. For the wives who want to follow their husbands, having anything permanent is nearly impossible. A permanent house is hard to maintain especially because you never know when you’re going to have to leave and live possibly in Rhode Island for 5 years. This makes it very hard to start a family as well because you won’t be sure where to send your kids for school and they may not have a steady home to grow up in. “The best advice I’ve ever received about military life is ‘Semper Gumby,’ which translates to mean ‘Always Flexible.’ Life being married to a military member—and staying married—requires that you’re always flexible”(O’Neill). Staying flexible is key to being a marine wife because you may have to drop everything you’ve got and move somewhere new one day. Your