Our “D” Day
I’ll never forget the morning my then future husband called me on Sept. 11, 2001. He said, “Turn on your TV, we have been attacked!” Then he said, “This changes EVERYTHING.” And it did.
When we had made plans to spend our life together, war, countless deployments and separations were NOT part of the dream. I was a high school history teacher and had high ambitions for my career. But being a war-time Marine Corps family has come with heavy challenges. My husband has deployed to war several times, and his training and commitment have been a burden on our relationship and family. I gave up my career to stay home with our children and provide a sense of stability in our chaotic career in service to our Country. It was not a difficult decision, as being a mother is truly where my passion lies.
The most difficult adjustment has been the loss of my income while at the same time adding more little mouths to feed. We are blessed with four amazing children, but, let’s face it – they’re expensive. I had read an article once about a stay at home mom and millionaire, who credited her success to building a business from home. I thought, “If she can do it, I can too!” So, I dabbled in a few direct sales and network marketing companies, but could NEVER get them to work. In frustration, I gave up! I swore I would never do one of “those things” ever again! But fortunately, a dear friend loved me enough to share LIMU with me.
At first LIMU was a means to earn a little extra income. We got our money back in 4 days by hitting 2K VIP … there was our proof that LIMU was different! The extra income has helped provide the little “extras” for our children, extras that were not easy to do as a single income military family.
In July of last year, my husband deployed again for a long 7 months. Even after countless deployments, they never get easier. Our children have suffered the most. They are all under the age of ten and he has been absent for many special moments in their lives. There was a particular event that occurred during this last deployment that changed our vision of moving this business from earning a little extra income to LIFE-CHANGING income.
With what LIMU was providing, we were able to put our oldest son in wrestling. He was so excited; however, when he didn’t win his matches at his first tournament, he was utterly discouraged. But he wasn’t upset because he lost. He was heartbroken because what he noticed that day, when he looked up from his mat, was there were so many Fathers there with their children helping them and coaching them through their victories and losses. Although Mom was there, I could not comfort him because I had my hands full with three other children in the bleachers. Even if I could have been there with him, it was his father he needed. What he said to me at the end of that difficult day devastated me. With big tears rolling down his precious cheeks, he said, “I just wish my dad was here.” And when I emailed my husband, he felt powerless in the middle of the ocean. All he wanted was to be there for his son and walk him through this difficult life moment.
It was then when we decided that LIMU would no longer be an extra money hobby, but rather a means to retire my husband early from the Marine Corps, so that he never misses an opportunity to be there for our family again. That’s our Why.
The deployment finally came to an end on February 25 and it was our “D” Day for changing our life! We attacked LIMU full force and by the end of March, we hit 20K and qualified for the free BMW! And we are fully committed until we have Victory – until we are able to retire completely from the Marine Corps!! We are now experiencing the full potential of LIMU. We can see that our goal of doing life together as a family is actually possible!
Some may say we signed up for this difficult lifestyle, and maybe they’re right. But our children did not – they didn’t have a choice. And we only have a few short years with them – an average of 939 weeks!! It’s just not enough time, and we have sacrificed enough for this honorable career. It’s about time we give back to our children for their own sacrifices, before it’s too late.
Because our “Why” changed, our vision changed … and then, our results! No more wasting our days waiting for Dad to come home. We are excited to live differently and even more excited to share this opportunity with as many families as we can. We are passionate about creating a legacy so large, that we never, EVER again have to hear our children (or our grandchildren) say, “ I wish my Dad was here.”
We are Carlos and Karen Crespo … and WE ARE LIMU!
