Kwame is an Army Commander in the 571st Sapper Company and his lovely wife Danielle Baynes-Boateng shared some of their family photos with ESSENCE.
Danielle and Kwame on their wedding day.
Another magic moment from the happy couple’s “I dos”.
Danielle and Kwame met during a high school summer program and became friends, but it wasn’t until their social circles overlapped in college that they truly began to see sparks fly.
Kwame and Danielle with a newborn baby Payton.
“You always make sure you say the things you want to say and you do the things you want to do so you’re heart and mind are filled with all the great memories,” says Danielle.
“You have to really take advantage of your time together because when you spend so much time apart you don’t want to have any regrets,” says Danielle. “Especially when your spouse is in a war zone. There’s always this lingering fear that he won’t come home, so when he is there, you do a lot.”
Commander Kwame with other members of the 571st Sapper Company.
Danielle and Kwame Boateng and their daughter Payton during a happy homecoming.
We see a little of mommy and daddy in Payton, don’t you?
Danielle accepts an award for her FRG work while her husband Kwame is deployed.
“When Kwame is away, I just stay really busy and really active,” says Danielle.“It helps the time go buy more quickly and help keep your mind off of worry and doubt.”
Another relaxing moment for the happy family of three — reunited and loving it.
The lovebirds make it a point to take blissful family vacations together when Kwame returns from deployments.
“When Kwame comes home we have a lot of family around because his family always flies out,” says Danielle. “We go out to dinner and he usually chooses some sort of steak house. He usually takes a two-week block of vacation. We go on vacation somewhere and just enjoy having him home.”
Danielle knows what matters most in life — she doesn’t miss a moment with her two favorite people.
Payton spends quality time with her father Kwame, who just returned from Afghanistan.
