Army Reserve spouse Trina Heppner has a strong belief her family's future is bright.
With what the family has been through over the past four years, Heppner is fairly positive things can't get much worse.

After spending four years as an active-duty spouse while her husband Jonathan served with the Ranger Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (then Fort Lewis), the couple decided that the military lifestyle and the frequent deployments and TDYs were becoming too much.

"I remember crying each morning as my one-year-old would stand in bed calling, ‘Daddy, Daddy' with her arms extended for him,"  Trina said. "I didn't know how to tell her that Daddy wouldn't be there to hold her for a very long time."

With a second child on the way, Jonathan separated and the family moved to Los Angeles so he could use his GI Bill to attend the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. While the venture took both Washington state natives away from their family support network, it allowed Jonathan to pursue his dream and Trina to watch her children while she supported her husband.

"He loves the military stuff as much as he loves the film stuff," said Trina, a Seattle Pacific University grad.

But the move came with a price. The family had to rent an apartment in a rough part of town and money was tight. The couple's second child had some health problems and Trina suffered several miscarriages over the next couple years.

"A day doesn't go by that I don't think about my lost children," said Trina, who grew up in Tacoma and met her husband in 2004 at a Christmas party on Fort Lewis. "I don't think that pain has lessened, and it don't think it ever will. But those losses make my children that I have now that much more of a blessing."

To make matters even worse, Trina was sexually assaulted by a massage therapist after going to get treatment for a back injury she suffered after being rear ended.

"It was a very traumatic experience," she said.

After living in California for four years, the family moved back to Washington last summer after Jonathan earned his degree. He also joined an Army Reserve unit based out of Bell, Calif., to help supplement the family's income, leaving for four months of training as Trina set up with the children in Washington.

"It feels good to be home," Trina said.

But the future is uncertain for the Heppners. While the couple is in the midst of running a small but successful wedding and engagement photography business (http://www.facebook.com/WeddingPhotographyandVideo) together, they are currently living with family in Mountlake Terrace.

"Our goal is to continue to better ourselves for our children," Trina said.
That could include Jonathan getting back on active-duty service if the opportunity comes up.

"It wouldn't be ideal (for us)," she said. "But we need the stability."