Our Happily Ever After

In 2022, Ray was stationed at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, serving as the NCOIC of the Competitive Programs Cell for the Army Reserve. Ashley, who had competed in the Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition in 2021, was invited to participate in the Army Reserve Senior Enlisted Council (SEC) in December 2022. Both Ray and Ashley attended the SEC in Orlando, FL, where a group chat had already been set up, making it easy to exchange numbers. While in Orlando, the group of former competitors talked about going out for dinner or doing activities after the day's meetings. On the first night, Ray and Ashley were the only ones who actually went out together. They shared an order of ribs, and Ray was immediately impressed. True to Army tradition, everyone quickly became like family, and an open invitation was extended for anyone to reach out if they were ever local to each other. During their time in Orlando, Ray's grandfather passed away, so he returned to Springfield, MA, after the SEC. He decided to follow up on the invitation, and over the next month, Ray and Ashley met up several times, traveling between Connecticut and Massachusetts. They shared moments like helping Ashley wrap Christmas presents and visiting local wineries. In January, while Ashley was at Battle Assembly at Fort Devens, MA, Ray had work there as well, so they met up once again. It felt as if everything was falling into place to bring them closer together. As they spent more time together, they found themselves wanting to be with each other more. In 2024, when it was time for Ray to change duty stations, as fate would have it he was stationed in Massachusetts, which meant he and Ashley could finally be together as of February 2024.