My name is Tatiana Sanders. I’m 23-years-old and I live in Jacksonville, FL.
My story is a little different. My story is a little different. My boyfriend was a Marine, Corporal Delvis L. Fernandez, he served in Iraq for 8 months. He came back from Iraq in April 2008, so unlike everyone else’s story he made it through the war and came home safe and unharmed.
On October 24, 2008 Delvis went to a gas station in his hometown of Sarasota, FL and was shot and killed.
I can still re-play the words from his best friends mouth, “Tati he’s gone”. They were the words I never ever thought I would have to hear, especially since he made it through the war.
Delvis and I had known each other for three years. He was playing football at Jacksonville University during the Fall of 2005. He was good friends with my boyfriend Mike at the time. I moved up to Jacksonville from Miami to be with Mike who ended up breaking my heart 2 months after I moved up. Delvis was the only friend of his that still spoke to me and showed that he really cared about what had happened. A few months later over Christmas break he told me he was coming to Miami to visit me. It was only supposed to be a few days but it turned into a week and a half. My family fell in love with him and he was falling in love with me. We shared our first kiss on New Years of 2006.
When I headed back to school he was headed to boot camp. He gave up his football scholarship to become a Marine. He visited me right before he left and sent a few says with me. He told me he wanted to be with me, but at the time it was too soon and I was not ready for a relationship. Even though in the back of my mind I knew that he was probably the BEST thing that could ever happen to me. He was good looking, sweet, romantic, respectful, strong, and knew how to make me laugh. It was really hard for me to say goodbye when he left to boot camp because I didn’t know what my future would bring, all I could do was hope that one day he would still be a part of it.
Delvis wrote to me all the time, I tried to write to him as much as I could. I never got into another relationship because I had so many ups and downs with Mike, but every time Delvis had time off he would find a way to come see me, and each time I was never ready to commit.
When he told me that he was going to Iraq, it was not only hard for me because I cared about him, but I also knew that he was an only child and that he was his mothers EVERYTHING. I have NEVER in my life seen a mother/son relationship like that of Delvis and his mother.
While he was in Iraq we e-mailed each other once and while through Myspace and that’s how we’d stay in contact.
When he got back from Iraq I told him I wanted us to try because I was finally ready to give him 100% and my whole heart. I did everything I could to show him how much I wanted to be with him and how bad I wanted to be with him. I got a star named after him because I knew it was something permanent, something that would ALWAYS be there. I was finally happy.
Don’t get me wrong, it was not a walk in the park, being that he was 3 1/2 hours away did not help either of us very much. We tried to see each other as often as we possibly could, and when we were together it was PERFECT. I knew that I had finally met the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We sat down one day when he was here in Jacksonville and picked out baby names. Aiden if it was a boy and penelope if it was a girl. We talked about how every Saturday morning we were going to wake up with the kids and make breakfast together as a family. Being that we are both Cuban, family meant EVERYTHING to us. He was going to join the police academy in January, and I was finishing school this summer with my degree in Communications/Broadcasting. We talked about moving to California because that is where my career would take off and because I had a lot of my family there. We had planned on spending most of our Christmas break out there this year. We had so many plans…
When I heard that he was shot and killed, all of my hopes and dreams died with him.
His mother was given a bag of his personal belongings about a week and a half after his funeral. They pulled everything out of a little brown paper bag one by one. As they went along she had to sign off on everything she got back. His watch, his wallet, his cash, and the last thing they pulled out was a tiny white box. Inside the tiny white box was an engagement ring. My engagement ring.
He planned on asking my father, my brothers, and my uncle for my hand in marriage when we were out in California in December. Then he was going to ask me to marry him. His mother told me all of this the day she gave me the ring and asked me to marry her family and be part of them for the rest of my life. And now whenever they introduce me to someone new, they say “And this was Delvis’ fiancee, Tatiana.” As wonderful as it feels to hear those words, it is like a dagger that pierces my heart over and over again because I now know that I will not be spending the rest of my life with my soul mate.
Delvis was an incredible man. He was 21-years-old and had his whole life ahead of him. He dedicated time to giving back to his community. He read to kids at different schools, helped the homeless, and everybody loved him. He was so proud to be a Marine. He planned on returning to Iraq in June. He said the best way to give back to this country that had given both him and his mom so much after coming from Cuba was to serve.
I share this story with you because he was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with, and the most AMAZING person I’d ever met, and he was very special to not only me, but so many others.
God Bless You All…my prayers continue to be with all the STRONG women who have lost their boyfriends/fiancee’s/or husbands in Iraq, and those still struggling to make it through their deployment. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you…
Love…
Tatiana Sanders
(Delvis Fernandez’s future Wifey and Babymama)
Here are some links to his story…
http://www.marinechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18927
http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=9255819
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7743383&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1
…she had to sign off on everything she got back. His watch, his wallet, his cash, and the last thing they pulled out was a tiny white box. Inside the tiny white box was an engagement ring. My engagement ring.
The Brown Bag
My name is Tatiana Sanders. I’m 23-years-old and I live in Jacksonville, FL.
My story is a little different. My story is a little different. My boyfriend was a Marine, Corporal Delvis L. Fernandez, he served in Iraq for 8 months. He came back from Iraq in April 2008, so unlike everyone else’s story he made it through the war and came home safe and unharmed.
On October 24, 2008 Delvis went to a gas station in his hometown of Sarasota, FL and was shot and killed.
I can still re-play the words from his best friends mouth, “Tati he’s gone”. They were the words I never ever thought I would have to hear, especially since he made it through the war.
Delvis and I had known each other for three years. He was playing football at Jacksonville University during the Fall of 2005. He was good friends with my boyfriend Mike at the time. I moved up to Jacksonville from Miami to be with Mike who ended up breaking my heart 2 months after I moved up. Delvis was the only friend of his that still spoke to me and showed that he really cared about what had happened. A few months later over Christmas break he told me he was coming to Miami to visit me. It was only supposed to be a few days but it turned into a week and a half. My family fell in love with him and he was falling in love with me. We shared our first kiss on New Years of 2006.
When I headed back to school he was headed to boot camp. He gave up his football scholarship to become a Marine. He visited me right before he left and sent a few says with me. He told me he wanted to be with me, but at the time it was too soon and I was not ready for a relationship. Even though in the back of my mind I knew that he was probably the BEST thing that could ever happen to me. He was good looking, sweet, romantic, respectful, strong, and knew how to make me laugh. It was really hard for me to say goodbye when he left to boot camp because I didn’t know what my future would bring, all I could do was hope that one day he would still be a part of it.
Delvis wrote to me all the time, I tried to write to him as much as I could. I never got into another relationship because I had so many ups and downs with Mike, but every time Delvis had time off he would find a way to come see me, and each time I was never ready to commit.
When he told me that he was going to Iraq, it was not only hard for me because I cared about him, but I also knew that he was an only child and that he was his mothers EVERYTHING. I have NEVER in my life seen a mother/son relationship like that of Delvis and his mother.
While he was in Iraq we e-mailed each other once and while through Myspace and that’s how we’d stay in contact.
When he got back from Iraq I told him I wanted us to try because I was finally ready to give him 100% and my whole heart. I did everything I could to show him how much I wanted to be with him and how bad I wanted to be with him. I got a star named after him because I knew it was something permanent, something that would ALWAYS be there. I was finally happy.
Don’t get me wrong, it was not a walk in the park, being that he was 3 1/2 hours away did not help either of us very much. We tried to see each other as often as we possibly could, and when we were together it was PERFECT. I knew that I had finally met the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We sat down one day when he was here in Jacksonville and picked out baby names. Aiden if it was a boy and penelope if it was a girl. We talked about how every Saturday morning we were going to wake up with the kids and make breakfast together as a family. Being that we are both Cuban, family meant EVERYTHING to us. He was going to join the police academy in January, and I was finishing school this summer with my degree in Communications/Broadcasting. We talked about moving to California because that is where my career would take off and because I had a lot of my family there. We had planned on spending most of our Christmas break out there this year. We had so many plans…
When I heard that he was shot and killed, all of my hopes and dreams died with him.
His mother was given a bag of his personal belongings about a week and a half after his funeral. They pulled everything out of a little brown paper bag one by one. As they went along she had to sign off on everything she got back. His watch, his wallet, his cash, and the last thing they pulled out was a tiny white box. Inside the tiny white box was an engagement ring. My engagement ring.
He planned on asking my father, my brothers, and my uncle for my hand in marriage when we were out in California in December. Then he was going to ask me to marry him. His mother told me all of this the day she gave me the ring and asked me to marry her family and be part of them for the rest of my life. And now whenever they introduce me to someone new, they say “And this was Delvis’ fiancee, Tatiana.” As wonderful as it feels to hear those words, it is like a dagger that pierces my heart over and over again because I now know that I will not be spending the rest of my life with my soul mate.
Delvis was an incredible man. He was 21-years-old and had his whole life ahead of him. He dedicated time to giving back to his community. He read to kids at different schools, helped the homeless, and everybody loved him. He was so proud to be a Marine. He planned on returning to Iraq in June. He said the best way to give back to this country that had given both him and his mom so much after coming from Cuba was to serve.
I share this story with you because he was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with, and the most AMAZING person I’d ever met, and he was very special to not only me, but so many others.
God Bless You All…my prayers continue to be with all the STRONG women who have lost their boyfriends/fiancee’s/or husbands in Iraq, and those still struggling to make it through their deployment. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you…
Love…
Tatiana Sanders
(Delvis Fernandez’s future Wifey and Babymama)
Here are some links to his story…
http://www.marinechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18927
http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=9255819
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7743383&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1