“Despite the distance, love will always win.”

Meet Leigha. Leigha is a new mom to her sweet baby girl, Adalynn and a fur mom to their sweet dog. She lives on base with her husband, who won Marine of the Year in 2017. As I have been saying all along, the Marine Corps is a small world. Upon talking, we discovered our husbands had been deployed together and we actually attended the same Marine Corps ball. They have endured two deployments together and have kicked each one’s butt!

She and her Marine met after he returned from his first deployment while she was working. Leigha was working at PetSmart when his family came in with their dog. His mom actually noticed the chemistry between them and encouraged him to get his number. They went on a couple of dates, but once she found out he was in the military, she didn’t think she could do it.

Little did they know they would be married and expecting their first child just a year and a half later. They had to get married in the courthouse due to his training schedule, which happens quite often in the Marine Corps lifestyle. Before her baby girl was due, she was able to find a job working full-time in a veterinary office. She is now raising her baby girl with her loving husband!

She says one of the hardest things about the military lifestyle is getting family to understand the requirements of the lifestyle…the unpredictability of the lifestyle. It is normal for us not to know when our husbands can go on vacations (especially months in advance). It is also normal for us not to be able to make it to big life events, like graduations, weddings, and funerals. Those instances are really hard to explain to those who have never been in the lifestyle and are able to take off for a few days to attend.