Before the Uniform Learned My Name

Dana Mikels Romance

I was fifteen when I met him in a church youth group, still healing from a heartbreak and still learning who I was allowed to become.
He was nineteen, quiet, steady, already walking toward a life that would demand discipline and distance.
Before the uniform.
Before the silence.
Before the walls he would learn to build.
What began as friendship grew through church outings, late laughter, disc golf afternoons, dodgeball games, and concerts that felt like freedom. He listened when I needed someone to stay. I fell for him slowly, safely, never knowing how much time would test us.
When he left for Marine Corps basic training, the silence nearly broke me. No calls. No messages. Just waiting and faith and loving someone I couldn’t reach.
Years passed. Calls became more frequent. Distance became routine. And love didn’t fade. It matured.
At sixteen, we made a choice that would bind us forever.
At seventeen, I became a mother.
At a Fourth of July celebration, with our son in my arms, he asked me to be his wife.
This is a story about growing up too fast and loving anyway.
About motherhood born in the middle of distance.
About a man who learned to be guarded… and the girl who knew him before he ever learned how.
Before the uniform learned my name.

Unfold