Basic training and military life

September 25th was the day that I thought my heart would break - Dale left for basic training...two months worth in San Antonio, Texas. Dales parents, his grandparents, LaVerne and some of the kids,my grandma and grandpa Storer were at the airport to see him off. As I fell apart when he got on the plane, the decision was made that I would go home with gram and gramp. The original plan was to stay in our trailer which was at my dads house, but deep down I knew that would never work for me. I was offered to work part-time with an old employer which I grabbed onto, knowing that would help the time pass quickly. Since I was also expecting a baby, it was nice to have grandma right there. She took good care of me, physically and emotionally. My aunt and uncle from California made a trip to visit my grandparents, which was another nice distraction. Grandma Brown would make occasional calls, then there were the letters and phone calls from Dale. We did write to each other a lot. Then the day came where Dale found out where we would be stationed for his school....Biloxi, Mississippi!! Plans were made for me moving to Mississippi - David, Dales brother - would drive out with me and Beverly also. We took my car and Davids. Can I just say....what a trip! We left in a blizzard, with family saying how crazy we were to do this. At the last minute, as we started to pull away from the curb my dad pulled up, so I was able to say good-bye to him and LaVerne. The trip went fairly well until we got to Dallas, where I went the wrong way. So many freeways, so many cars.... needless to say, David made it to Biloxi before Bev and I did. I was incredibly happy to finally be back with Dale. We lived in a apt over a garage and then it was time for me to get used to military life. We were there for 5 months. We made a lot of good friends, loved our little Branch, learned the ins and outs of being a military wife, our children would now be known as "military brats" - an endearment that had to grow on me - friends getting new orders and leaving, getting our own orders to move to Florida, seeing how people outside of Idaho lived, and growing up.