Sean came into my life during a period of big changes, uncertainties, a healing heart and sheer distrust, a period I self-diagnosed as a “quarter-life metamorphosis.” With his humor and charm, patience and honesty, friendship and kindness, he won over a series of dates that were as perfect as they were simple and effortless. We just clicked. And in that same year, we were thrown into the rocking wake of long distance, as he went off to OCS and a few months later, into a permanent assignment aboard the USS Gravely, hundreds of miles from home (Florida). Through it all, Sean remained my constant. On our second anniversary, he put a ring on my finger, three days into a sneaky surprise trip to Paris, prior to which he had my boss convince me that I was traveling to Toronto on business. And so, in fitting fairy-tale style, underneath the Eiffel Tower on a clear summer day, I said “oui” to my personal rock star. Sean can’t do anything in an average manner. Whether it’s at work, leading his division; with family and friends, arranging pranks or sweet gestures whenever he gets the chance; or with me, making me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, Sean rocks at doing things that… well, absolutely rock! When a month after our engagement, we learned about his upcoming eight-month deployment, Sean reassured me that we would be okay. On a beautiful November morning in Jamaica, bare feet in sugar-white sand, I said “I do” to Sean, surrounded by emerald-green water and nothing else, just him and me, sealing in that moment and committing to a lifetime. I will never be surer of a decision than I was the day I took those vows. Life since hasn’t quite been the same. My induction into life as a military spouse came quickly and over the past two years, life moved unexpectedly and often times tragically, with the loss of my mother, a mid-country move and countless underways, all through which he remained my firm and steady. Two years after our wedding day, I couldn’t be more proud of the gentleman and the officer that I now represent. He’s my sailor, my best friend, my lover, my hero…