Hey everybody! Happy New Year to everyone that’s still around here. I’d like to take the time to say that I appreciate you being here and sticking around during my hiatus. I’m going to do a quick update here on life.
2019… Honestly, this past year was pretty soul crushing for me. I spent most of the year gearing up for a deployment, giving up all my time, patience, resources, and eventually my personal life into making sure that this Company was successful in going to MOB station and onward into the deployment that dominated the rest of my year. The struggle to Mobilize a Specialized Company with little to no help from higher took a toll on what little Full Time Staff that the Company had for help, and truly demanded more time than what a Reserve Commander and First Sergeant should be giving. The late nights, the conference calls, and the weekend drills hit my long distance personal life on a new level, being so tired from the day that I barely had the opportunity to speak to my Spouse.
Once deployed, the Company hit the ground running, and for the first three months, there were many long days, long nights, and challenges that we ran into in order to get the Company into the proper battle rhythm. While we all eventually found the light at the end of the tunnel, my marriage unfortunately did not, and after 10 years of being together, that chapter of my life had closed. Being a fairly private individual, very few people are aware of this; and after a couple months of this happening, I feel like it is okay to let people know, and to know that I’m okay, and this too shall pass.
Not everything has been bad though; I’ve managed to reconnect with people that I haven’t heard from in a while, and I’ve learned to be okay with being alone. I’ve also managed to enroll back in school, to finish my Master’s degree, and am in the process of deciding where I’d like to go next after this deployment and the necessary continuing education requirements within the field in the military. I’ve made friends and created lasting relationships throughout this deployment, and am always learning new things about myself, as well as who and what I want to be “when I grow up”.
Being “in the corner” doesn’t only apply to boxing; being in the corner is about how you get OUT of it, how you manage to get off the ropes of life, and finish the round off strong. Last year was trying, but I’m confident that 2020 will be a different year, with more challenges to conquer, and more goals to achieve.
What about you? Can you relate? What are you hoping for this year?
In The Corner with Joana "Candelita" Martinez 