The Schlipp Journey - 2018

Mike, a retired Army Staff Sergeant, and I met online in the summer of 2017.  We lived about an hour and a half apart, but we visited each other regularly. Thanks to technology, we were able to communicate daily via calls and texts. We would watch movies together via Facetime and would fall asleep talking to each other every night.

In January of 2018, I was laid off from Walmart Corporate offices in Bentonville, AR where I had worked for just shy of eleven years. I was shocked, to say the least. I was so thankful for my six-month relationship with Mike. He helped me keep my sanity, listened as I vented, and encouraged me while I struggled.  I spent the next few months working through the tiring process of updating a resume, applying for unemployment, changing all my doctors since I no longer had insurance, trying to live on a small fraction of the income I was used to receiving, and seeking employment that could sustain my household.

As the unemployment ended in the late spring, Mike and I had continued to grow closer. He decided he would move that summer from Springfield, MO to Bella Vista, AR where I lived. We had both been independent and heads of our households for years. We had several growing pains over the rest of the year. But we stayed strong and supported each other as we worked on blending our families.

Together we are a beautiful blended family of seven. Mike, myself and five children between 23 and 14: Joshua, Jason, Rachel, Mikaela, and Connor. Late that summer, Mikaela moved to Arkansas and began her senior year that fall. Joshua had recently moved to Seattle, WA.  Rachel was in nursing school in Fort Smith, AR while Jason and Connor were still in Springfield, MO.

Mike and I worked daily on learning how to better understand and support each other and our children. I had never been close to anyone suffering from PTSD, so I had a lot to learn. Mike had struggled opening up and allowing others much insight into his inner struggles. Mike's fellow veterans and their wives were very helpful and supportive as we moved through those months.

We had so much to be thankful for that Thanksgiving season!  We had grown closer to each other’s families and friends. Our children were taking advantage of the time spent together.  Mike and I were now engaged! That Christmas was special as we celebrated our first Christmas together. So much changed in one year and we had come so far in learning to support and understand each other. We had made it through 2018!

Stay tuned for what happened in 2019!  Any guesses?