A woman in the United States has shared the story of how she and her wife met on their first day of orientation in the armed forces.
“We met in the reception period, which is the ten day or so time period in which they train on how to march and other things,” Megan Turner wrote on Reddit.
“The first time we met was actually in the restroom. We accidentally switched our PCs (hats) in the restroom quite a few times.
“To this day, because it happened so many times, I remember thinking how odd it was,” she said.
Turner and her partner Val Hill met four and a half years ago when the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy had already been repealed—but they were still fearful about starting a relationship.
Megan Turner and Val Hill first met because they kept accidentally switching hats during basic training. Image: Facebook. Source: Facebook/Megan Turner
“Ironically, we did get accused of having sex during our time there, when we had never even shared a physical intimate moment, such as a cuddle or a kiss.
“Every night we would sneak to each other’s bunks and just stay up way too late talking.”
Turner added that attitudes toward LGBT+ varied amongst the army recruits and leaders.
“We came into the Army quite aware that we were gay way before joining,” she said.
“It definitely still had a stigma when we were in. Really the treatment varied. One sergeant that we had was on a lesbian witch hunt, while another protected us.
"Overall though, it wasn’t a major issue,’ said Turner.
The pair have now been together for nearly five years, and recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary. The couple also have a two-year-old daughter.
Turner’s original post on Reddit received hundreds of comments, with users urging her to share more of their story after she posted a photograph.
One Reddit user wrote: "Cupid's arrows missed the first few times so he messed with your hats until your destiny was realised."
