#marineinthearmy

[olivebranchyoga-blog]

Flip Flops & Combat Boots. . . Her name was name was Nancy Bayless I believe she was in her late 70's at the time. She saw us holding hands one Sunday morning, we were just newlyweds at the time. We were young with no real idea of what we were doing in life but what ever it was, we knew were were doing it together. Nancy approach ed us on Sunday morning. She grabbed both of our hands in her own and passionately said "Never stop holding hands". We have never forgotten her words or that moment. Nancy shared with us stories of both of her husband's that had passed away. Stories of love that remained and lasted through every storm. She gifted us with her priceless wisdom & we gifted her with her first In N Out Burger in a red two door Pontiac Sunfire (which she thought was amazing). . . Fast forward 20 years I'm still wearing flip flops and he is still wearing combat boots , we are still hand in hand. I'm still the rule breaker & he is still the rule follower. This is solidarity, stealing time like we are bandits and waiting for the years stolen to be redeemed. We have fewer answers and more questions than our 20 year old selves. Pain has shaved all that we thought "we knew" into humility of having "no idea" of how this all works out but holding on to each other, healing. . . We didn't know we would almost be destroyed by the dream of Foster Care & Adoption. We didn't know the battlefield we would walk was not on foreign soil but in our own home. We didnt know we would trade dog tags for court dockets. We didn't know we would have to heal a marriage from trauma. Nancy had no way of knowing any of that either. What she did know she gave us. "Never stop holding hands" . . How to you walk through hell, fire, and broken glass? Wearing flip flops, combat boots..... hand in hand. #changetheatmospherechangetheworld #reachoutrootdownriseup #solidarity #handinhand #20yearsstronger #fostercarejourney #wholeheartedhealing #flipflopsandcombatboots #marineinthearmy #strategysanityunity (at Santa Barbara, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B05w4BKlbyK/?igshid=coyq1l4obnk9