Updated on December 22, 2015
Introduction- Part II
In April, 2014 I left my home for the first time in 30+ years and started my life as an Army wife. We were assigned to Fort Campbell, KY and I was nervous and excited at the same time for what was to come. Let me say, my time here has in many ways exceeded my expectations. I have made many great friends, had a wonderful job and it is a great area to explore. That’s not to say we haven’t had our challenges as well.
We raced to Fort Campbell from Fort Jackson, SC to get Jason signed in before they changed his orders to Korea. When we arrived at 9 o’clock at night we found that our pet friendly hotel room that we had booked had been given away because we had not checked in by 7 pm??? Of course, then we couldn’t find another pet friendly hotel and we were traveling with a Great Dane and 3 kids. Luckily, I had remembered seeing a post for a new dog kennel starting up on the Fort Campbell Wives Page on Facebook. (If you are moving to Fort Campbell with the Army this is a wonderful resource to find out information) So I called Leah Patterson from “Roll Over Kennels” and she was gracious enough to meet us at the kennel at almost 10:00 at night and to take great care of Parris for us until our house was ready several days later.
The fist month here was like a long vacation for me. My new job didn’t start until the middle of May so I had almost an entire month off to get our house unpacked and enjoy being with the three kids. Jason on the other hand hit the ground running. Fort Campbell is a fast paced unit and his battalion hadn’t had a chaplain in 2 years. On the good side our new home was on the south side of Clarksville and so we could easily drive to Nashville on the weekends to explore. My parents and sister came in for a week to help me settle and we got to tour the Grand Ole Opry with them. If you like Country Music its a great place to visit.
I started work at Jennie Stuart Medical Center Emergency Department in May and in June we found out that our family was growing again. This included its own challenges as I knew nothing of Army medicine and it took some time to figure out how to navigate the system. So in hopes that this helps someone else I will pass on some of my experience. Blanchfield Army Hospital ( BACH) is the on-post hospital. Number one they do not deal with high risk pregnancies at their facility. However, you still have to see an OB on post to get referred to an off post MFM OB. Number two- when I got pregnant it used to be that you had to go on post and have a blood test done to confirm pregnancy, you did not need an appointment for this but it was not well publicized. Now I understand that you can directly contact the OB department with a positive home pregnancy test to schedule your initial appointment which is much better. There is an appointment hotline to call and you can also schedule online. I did not have any experience past my first appointment with the OB office, however, I was seen in L+D one day for concern of ruptured membranes. The staff there was wonderful during my stay and the OB I had couldn’t have been better. Thankfully, It was a false alarm.
Zachary was born in February of 2015 at a hospital in Nashville three days after Melissa’s 5th Birthday. My parents came down to keep the kids and it snowed the entire week. The winter was very cold with temperatures in the negative digits both 2014 and 2015. This winter so far has been much milder and last week it was actually in the mid 70’s with everyone out in their shorts and T-shirts, though this week its starting to turn colder. Thankfully, in May Jason was able to attend a medical ministry course with the Army in San Antonio and I got to fly out for a nice romantic weekend for two. We had a great time there exploring the Spanish missions and the Riverwalk.
In March of 2015 I am sorry to say we lost our beloved Blue Great Dane Parris (Willowrun Magnolia’s Back From Boot Camp) to a small bowel obstruction. She was going through a false pregnancy and decided to eat something in Bobby’s room. All we found was stuffing from whatever toy it was. Her loss was particularly painful for Melissa as she slept in her room every night. Jason and I had gotten her together the January after we met. In June, we welcomed home Anna (Magnolia’s Darth Anna) thanks to Kade Danes (http://kadedanes.com) in Kentucky. Anna has fit right in to the family and is a super sweet girl. Right now she is at a boarding trainer (http://www.thecalmk9.com) until after Christmas and we are having withdrawal. Hopefully, she will come home with some great new manners though. we are looking forward to continuing her training so that she may ultimately be a Certified Service Dog. I would love in the future to breed and train Great Danes as Mobility Service Dogs but unfortunately that is not possible in this phase of my life. I am so happy though that there are so many wonderful Service Dog Organizations around. I am particularly fond of The Service Dog Project (http://www.servicedogproject.org) as they use Great Danes. If you have a moment I encourage you to visit their website and read the story about Bella and George. They are actually visiting the the AKC/Eukanuba challenge this week for George to receive the Humane Funds Award for Canine Excellence. Their story is truly a heartwarming tail of overcoming adversity.
Recently, we found out that Jason has been selected to attend a year long certificate program in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). will enable him to serve as a Hospital Chaplain, obviously a role very near and dear to my heart. When I worked as a Hospitalist Jason served as a volunteer chaplain at my hospital. It was amazing to be able to connect our callings in such a unique way and I really look forward to being able to serve together in this way again. The CPE program is offered at three Army Hospitals including Walter Reed, in Bethesda, MD, Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, TX, and Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA. that being said we are gearing up for our next PCS. I will keep you posted about how we prepare as we go along. I am already working to clean out our closets of excess clutter and in true Army Wife fashion have finally unpacked the last box from our last move.
Kari, I enjoyed following you on this journey you’ve taken with my son in your marriage thus far…I remember much of it very well & felt like I was there with you watching you for the parts I wasn’t there! You do have a way with words… We love you both & offer our support whenever you need it…❤️