“Despite the distance, the way he looks at me makes it worth it.”

Meet Britney. She and her husband Chase are newlyweds, married just over four months. They are doggy parents to their rescue pup, a German Shepherd mix named Macey, who they adopted shortly after they got married. Macey keeps Britney company (and keeps her busy!) whenever Chase is gone.

So far they have experienced one deployment together while they were dating; he was on a MEU, and any military spouse knows that means very limited communication! Each Marine and his/her spouse deals with the stress of deployments differently. For Chase, it was easier to detach and become a bit more distant prior to departing. Once he was gone and wasn’t able to communicate with Britney as much, they began to appreciate the presence and comfort that they find in each other.

Once he returned, they got married. They had a small wedding with family and friends. Then it came time for her to move down to Camp Lejeune. They were forced to wait for two weeks while on-base housing became available. During this time they had to live with a couple of friends while their home was being vacated and prepared. While living on-base offers a great convenience, there are also some pains with moving in and out, like being without a home for weeks, sometimes months, at a time.

Another obstacle came with the move, however. Britney had to leave her job as a pharmacy technician in her home state of Massachusetts and try to find another job in the Jacksonville area. After filling out over 60 job applications, online and in-person, she could not find a job. Not only was she forced out of a well-paying job she enjoyed, she has not yet been able to find any job. Unemployment and underemployment are common among military spouses, due to the frequent moves and the sheer number of spouses that need jobs in a small area. If you have heard of anywhere hiring, especially as a pharmacy technician, please feel free to reach out to Britney and help a sister out—after all, we are all in this together!

Britney and Chase now are living comfortably in on-base housing and even have their own woodworking workshop set up in the garage. This is one of their favorite past times to work on together whenever Chase is home. So far they have made a hall table and are working on a television stand for their home! I have seen their work and it is incredible…if you need a piece done, I am sure they would be willing to tackle it…because that’s what us military spouses do—we tackle the task set before us.