LOC AL VALENTINES
by Charlotte Kovalchuk • charlotte@myjarrell.com
Not too many words can make a person’s day brighter more than “love.” Meet Jarrell couples who have been saying it, and living it, from their first to their 50th anniversaries.
MILITARY MARRIAGE CHALLENGES Bailey Easterwood never wanted to be a military wife, but she’s thankful for an amazing husband, family close by to help out, and understanding friends who make the challenges worth it. Bailey and Zack Easterwood met in 2016 at a friend’s wedding, where she was a bridesmaid and he was a groomsman. Zack and the groom were in the same troop stationed at Fort Hood. “We walked down the aisle together and spent the whole night hanging out before exchanging numbers,” Bailey remembers.
where to live and raise my kids.” Zack decided to leave the Army after four years of service, but the couple soon realized their health care situation wasn’t ideal, so he joined the National Guard. While they didn’t intend to go through a deployment, especially during a pandemic, they are almost halfway through one now. Thankfully, they get to communicate a lot and video chat several times a day. “We constantly talk about ‘when you’re back we will...’ And it makes us happy and gives us things to look forward to! There are trips we want to take, things we want to make, and we just stay positive.”
The next week, he took her and her son Landon to a zoo in Waco for Landon’s third birthday. “We continued seeing each other almost daily at that point,” Bailey says. “He drove down after duty every day and would stay with us. He jumped right into the dad role for my son!” Five months later they were married, and in 2017, they welcomed another son, Nolan, into their family. Being married to a military serviceman was difficult, as Bailey says, “I never wanted to be a military wife where I was told photo by Brandi Lacey Photography 6
F E B R UA R Y 2021 M Y JA R R ELL M O NT HLY
She notes that communication is the key to their relationship and is thankful they have amazing communication. She is also grateful to have family close by to help out as well as new friends and other military wives who understand the hardships and are always ready for a coffee chat or a vent. On the home front, Bailey stays busy, saying the more she does the less time there is to be sad. “I am thankful to have the most amazing husband and father of my boys!” she shares. “We can’t wait to have him back home with us in our arms.”
