Back in August, I posted about Ambrose’s graduation from AFBMT. Originally, Ambrose decided to sign up for the Air Force with their best friend Tyler, and the two were planning to attend basic training together in some kind of buddy system. However, Tyler’s paperwork took much longer, and their approval into the AF didn’t come until long after Ambrose was done with basic and off to Korea. It was also long after the two of them had their proxy marriage ceremony in September. Finally, not long before Christmas, Tyler’s approval and ship date came through, and they started BMT right before the holiday.

We’ve known Tyler for a long time now. Ambrose and Tyler first became friends in 2017 when my family moved back to TX from Wisconsin, and Tyler’s mother was stationed in San Antonio. The two of them were always out together and we lived close together. The families all spent time with each other, until Tyler’s family relocated with the army to out in Alabama sometime during the pandemic. Until that move, Tyler was in our pandemic “bubble,” playing Dungeons & Dragons (and other RPGs) with Jason, Ambrose, and sometimes Morrigan and Laurence first over Zoom/Skype, and post-vaccine, at our house. Even after Ambrose left for BMT and Tyler was living across the country, Jason and Tyler continued to play their games through video-chat. So in a lot of ways, Tyler has been family for a long time, and their family considers Ambrose as part of their family too.

Unlike Ambrose, Tyler invited everyone to their graduation. (Ambrose asked that no one come to theirs.) Jason and I got tickets, and Tyler’s family flew in from Alabama. The whole group of us spent a big chunk of Wednesday and Thursday hanging out, and it was so good to see not just Tyler but the rest of the family too. Lots of long hugs, lots of support, lots of happiness to join families. Because Tyler and Ambrose’s wedding was unconventional in a lot of ways – a proxy ceremony, so there was no event to attend, not to mention they’ve called it a platonic marriage/life partnership, and it was all very quick – we had no real idea of how comfortable everyone was going to be. But the family is so great, and they were all so happy to welcome Ambrose in, and excited to all be tied together legally. They’ve been so supportive of both kiddos and their continued journeys in career and life. Ambrose could not have chosen a better family to join, and I’m overjoyed to welcome Tyler into ours.