thedrifter
09-08-07, 10:48 AM
Soldier Returns Home To Unrecognizable Wife
POSTED: 4:34 pm CDT September 6, 2007
WAUKESHA, Wis. -- After four tours of duty in six years, Tino Martinez knows the drill when it comes to deploying. Every time he comes home, he says things have changed.
A late-August return from Iraq for the Waukesha soldier was no different. While at war, his wife, Diane, lost 110 pounds.
"Our oldest, Tyler, had a sign. He was holding it in front of her. So I could only see from the neck up. And when he moved it, my mouth hit the floor, along with all the other
stuff I was holding," Martinez said.
After health issues and trouble with weight, Diane Martinez said she was tired of carrying an unhealthy burden.
"I decided to have the gastric bypass surgery. Not for looks or anything, but for general health. Having three kids, I want to see them grow up, and not have a heart attack or something," Martinez said.
Martinez lost the weight and regained an active lifestyle she thought she had lost and a feeling she can only describe one way: "Wonderful! I'm driving my family nuts. I love getting out pulling weeds and walking."
Tino Martinez said he's surprised with all of the activity.
"She can't sit still now. Since after the surgery she has gone to school, she's gotten a job, the whole house is completely different, including the outside," he said.
The weight loss wasn't the only homecoming surprise. Martinez also was home in time take his son, Brian, to his first day of kindergarten.
"A 40-year-old guy almost cried. We dropped him off, came back here and it was around noon and I wanted to go get him," Martinez said.
He said this big change, added with their three kids getting older, will make leaving home again much harder.
There is a chance that Martinez could be deployed again. He said he has a five-year commitment with the military, but after this trip home, he's hoping to stay home for good.
Ellie
POSTED: 4:34 pm CDT September 6, 2007
WAUKESHA, Wis. -- After four tours of duty in six years, Tino Martinez knows the drill when it comes to deploying. Every time he comes home, he says things have changed.
A late-August return from Iraq for the Waukesha soldier was no different. While at war, his wife, Diane, lost 110 pounds.
"Our oldest, Tyler, had a sign. He was holding it in front of her. So I could only see from the neck up. And when he moved it, my mouth hit the floor, along with all the other
stuff I was holding," Martinez said.
After health issues and trouble with weight, Diane Martinez said she was tired of carrying an unhealthy burden.
"I decided to have the gastric bypass surgery. Not for looks or anything, but for general health. Having three kids, I want to see them grow up, and not have a heart attack or something," Martinez said.
Martinez lost the weight and regained an active lifestyle she thought she had lost and a feeling she can only describe one way: "Wonderful! I'm driving my family nuts. I love getting out pulling weeds and walking."
Tino Martinez said he's surprised with all of the activity.
"She can't sit still now. Since after the surgery she has gone to school, she's gotten a job, the whole house is completely different, including the outside," he said.
The weight loss wasn't the only homecoming surprise. Martinez also was home in time take his son, Brian, to his first day of kindergarten.
"A 40-year-old guy almost cried. We dropped him off, came back here and it was around noon and I wanted to go get him," Martinez said.
He said this big change, added with their three kids getting older, will make leaving home again much harder.
There is a chance that Martinez could be deployed again. He said he has a five-year commitment with the military, but after this trip home, he's hoping to stay home for good.
Ellie