To Devi – A Love Letter Across Time

To the woman who will be my everything, I promise to love you even when words aren't enough.

In January 2004, I volunteered to be the Head Umpire and run a Little League’s Officiating team. Little did I know just how volunteering would change my life. From the moment you walked into my very first Little League board meeting, something shifted in my world. I didn't know it then, but I was meeting, the woman who would become my everything. You weren't just another person in the room – you were the person, the one everyone looked to, the one who commanded respect without demanding it. What started as simple admiration grew into something I couldn't name, something I carried deep inside me like a secret treasure.

I carried a place for you inside me, reserving laughter, comfort, and endless love until the day we would truly meet as we were meant to. You have now fulfilled that spot in my heart.

In August 2005, my patriotism was running full speed, and I began what would become an eight-year endeavor supporting our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. That going-away party our friends through for me, well, I've never told you this, but when you walked through that door, something happened inside me that I still can't fully explain. I was heading to Iraq the next day, to a war zone, to the most dangerous place on earth, and yet, seeing you brought me a comfort that defied logic. We only spoke briefly, far less than I wanted, but it was enough. I carried a piece of you with me into that darkness.

Through the dust and danger of Iraq, through the really bad days and the even worse nights, through near-death experiences that should have terrified me but somehow didn't, I held onto something. Your emails. Every single one. I still have them all, Devi. We were on a group email list that shared emotional and funny emails with each other, and I think you sent the most out. While other soldiers (or old veteran soldiers like me) cherished mail from home, your words became my lifeline, my connection to something beautiful in a place of chaos. Mail is the top morale essential for any soldier, or in my case "still soldier-at-heart", and yours kept my spirit alive when everything around me was trying to break it.

In the spring of 2006, I heard you were getting a divorce. My heart broke for you, Devi. Even from half a world away, I felt your pain.

During my June 2006 R&R back to the states, I went looking for you at the ballfields. I just wanted to say hello, to see you. And there you were. God, you were beautiful. Leaning against that fence at the northeastern field, wearing that red halter top and cut-off jean shorts, your hair framing your face perfectly; I just stood there for what seemed like eternity just gazing at you like a nervous high school kid with a secret crush. That image is burned into my memory as vividly today as it was nearly twenty years ago. Finally, I built up the courage to say hello. We hugged and had small chat for a little bit, and then it was over. I didn't know how long to stay or what to say. And honestly, I really thought it was going to be the last time I ever saw you.

I went back to Iraq, and you tried to figure out what life after marriage was going to be like.

Then, in the fall of 2006, I heard your divorce had turned into a nightmare. After twenty years of marriage, and you discovered why he left and who he left you for... your best friend. Oh, Devi, the betrayal you must have felt. You felt all alone. My heart ached for you from thousands of miles away.

Just trying to be a good friend, I went through all my saved emails until I found one that mentioned your birthday, February 9th. I sent you flowers out of the blue, with the intention of just trying to bring some sunshine into your life during your darkest time.

Those flowers opened a door to something extraordinary. From that moment on, our emails became more frequent, our phone calls longer and longer. Being in an active combat zone, your emails and phone calls were priceless to me, more than anyone could ever know. They really did keep my spirits up regardless of what was happening all around me. You became more than my morale essential – you became my reason.

Even in the quiet moments of life, I will think of you and feel grateful that a love like ours is waiting for us.

October 2007 changed everything. When I came home for R&R and had to have eye surgery on both eyes, you became my nurse. For a day or two after the surgery, I had to keep my eyes bandaged. Since the doctors wouldn't let me drive home, you were there and became my nurse for the next few weeks. There I was, literally blind, and you were there. At that time, I didn't know where our relationship was going to go, but I was in heaven on earth just being around you. That's when we became a couple.

Our long-distance love grew slowly, patiently, through years of separation and brief reunions; just at a slower rate compared to most relationships, as I was home only a few weeks out of the year for the next four years.

And like all wars, the War in Iraq finally ended in November 2011, and after a five-month withdrawal from Iraq to Kuwait, I was finally coming home. I literally came home at the end of March 2012, was home one day, and then the next day in April 2012, we were off to Roatan, Honduras, where I was taking some professional diving courses. This time you came with me.

Now I was used to these types of adventures, of living in a third-world country, just making do with whatever I could find or had on hand, but you were not. I got to introduce you to gourmet meals cooked in a microwave oven, and going shopping that one day the supply ship came to the island with a very limited selection, and how for only for about two hours that day we had to buy a week’s worth of groceries (if you could even call them that) as everyone else was also buying. We stayed on the island for a month, and for us, it was like a honeymoon time... at least for me.

I dreamed about the day I can hold your hand, look into your eyes, and tell you how deeply I love you every morning.

Little did we know that in a couple of short years, we were about to embark on the greatest adventure we had yet had together. In April 2014, I headed to Kwajalein, that little island just a few hundred miles above the equator, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. After a short while you joined me, and on Kwajalein, our love deepened to a whole new level.

On Kwaj, we learned more about each other, grew closer, and our love for each other was amazing. You supported my professional diving career like no one has before. In March 2017, after three years on Kwaj, we bought the local dive store from a good friend. We renamed it Dive Kwaj, rebranded it, developed an amazing business for us on Kwaj, and all along, creating one of the most successful scuba diving stores in the world. While our store was smaller than most dive stores in the US, Dive Kwaj's retail sales and the number of dive courses we taught exceeded most of them. That business was truly magical for us in so many ways.

After nearly eight years on Kwaj it was time to return to the states. You left for Florida in April 2022 and I joined you later in December the same year. Our time on Kwajalein had come to an end, but our Florida lives were just beginning.

Now, after nearly 19 years as a couple, after combat zones and tropical islands, after emails and phone calls and long separations, after building businesses and building a life ... we're finally here. Our wedding.

Yes, we've had our few speed bumps and rough patches along the way, but I do not think I ever thought of anyone else to be my love, my supporter... my wife.

Looking back on those experiences in Iraq, I am pretty sure that the Lord's plan was to bring you into my life. And for that, I will ever be grateful.

You are my everything. You always have been.

Forever yours, Your loving husband-to-be

≈ Me ≈

As Michael told how we met I was married (which I thought was a happy marriage) but not so much. He was there for me. Then once we started dating, I found out to be with someone that made life fun and not someone that was selfish. He taught me that I could love again. I had in my mind that I would never love again.

Even with our long-distance relationship, which was hard to do, I always supported him. He was always so kind to make our time together so special. We took trips to Mexico, cruises and an epic trip to Honduras. That is when I fell so hard in love with this amazing man. I think that was our first taste of small island living but for only a month.

Kwajalein was the best for us. Just the two of us to learn about each other. We grew closer and met so many great friends which some of them will be with us on our amazing day to become husband and wife. Now we have two amazing fur babies. Michael has become the most amazing Dive Instructor/Course Director and will become the most amazing husband. He has been there for me during my saddest moments in my life and when my health declined. I know the loved ones we have lost in the past couple of years are looking down on us and are very happy to where we are today.

I adore you and love you with all my heart. I can't wait to be your wife.

Love,

D