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Meet
My Friend:
Maggie O'Hara
Maggie came into my life when I had moved to America to start my life with my new husband and Timothy. After Todd's training had been completed in Albuquerque we moved to Great Falls, Montana - Malmstrom Air Force Base. Life was definitely not what I thought it was going to be.
I found a job relatively quickly and so that helped me meet people, but they were generally just 'acquaintances', nobody I could phone up and say 'Coffee?" and they'd come around! Life was a little different. On one hand I was deliriously happy with my new husband and our son was the happiest I've ever seen him - life was good. But on the flip side of that I was in a new country, in a new marriage, in a new 'life' - this military life was definitely a different kettle of fish from what I had been used to. There were things that I was supposedly meant to do, not to do, say, not to say etc, etc. I was a little confused.
One of the pilots that Todd flew with at Malmstrom was a lady called Maggie and I'm not sure how we got to know each other, but we did somehow. We found out that we both were interested in losing some weight and so we decided that we would walk together on a regular basis.
So about three times a week we would meet at the designated spot and walk for four miles! It was a wonderful way to spend an hour and getting to know each other. She was there to listen to my life story and my boring twists and turns, and I hope that I was there for her to hear her life story with it's twists and turns as well. We had a lot in common on many levels.
During the course of these walks Maggie met the man she would eventually marry and so I was there to hear all of the details about that. He was deployed for quite a while and our walks I think helped her through that lonely stage as well.
Eventually she married Jason (I was lucky enough to be asked to take photos of the occasion and was happy to oblige - heavily pregnant with Kasia at the time, it was still a lovely, relaxed time ... pity Todd wasn't in town to witness it as well) and they have moved around America with their assignments. We are still in contact, but only occasionally as she is a very busy lady with Jason and a darling daughter, Molly. I wish we were closer as I really miss our walks and chats that we used to have. But no matter where we are in America - whenever I step out for a walk, I think of Maggie and the lovely times we had walking together in Great Falls, Montana!
