THE NAVY YEARS
A MEMOIR
by
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Two or three pages into my book I heard a noise where a noise shouldn't be. I strained to hear. It was coming from the dining room. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed out to the stairs where I heard the unmistakable sound of the chair being pushed against the doorknob to move it away. Someone, I realized, must have come in through the open cellar bulkhead and up the cellar stairs. My heart began hammering so hard I started to feel a little sick and for several seconds I froze in place, unable to move. Part of me almost refused to accept that it was happening. What jarred me out of my frozen state was the sudden realization that if something happened to me no one would know Paul and Davey were here all alone. I had to do something. This forced me to stifle the rising panic and start to think. Somehow, I had to get down to the telephone right there in the room with the cellar door.
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About the Book
Did I dream of becoming a Navy wife? No! Never! I wanted to stay in the safety of my own small town world like all the other post World War II couples I knew. But ‘man proposes and God disposes’ so, dragging my feet, I encountered a frighteningly unfamiliar world whose terms and conditions were created by the United States Navy. I tip-toed into it reluctantly and only years later when my husband was retiring, did I come to realize how much the way of life had become a part of me, and how much I was going to miss it. The learning process was challenging. I never grew to love the weeks and months of loneliness, but I did learn to cope with it, and grew in the learning.
About the Author
Military wives are different. Much of the time their husbands are in remote corners of the world and they must deal with whatever comes along - sick children, landlords, financial matters, and sudden moves. If they, (and their marriages) survive all this, it can be a fascinating experience. It wasn’t until the author’s husband’s twenty year career as a submarine sailor came to an end that she began to reflect on what she as well as her husband, owed to their time in the military. Growing up in the Great Depression, graduating high school into World War II, a career in the military offered financial security - a major plus back then, worth sacrificing a ‘normal’ marriage for a vastly different way of life. It was a cram-course in growing up - leaving behind everything familiar and comfortable, venturing into unfamiliar places with every change in duty assignment. Above all, it was a time filled with memories to cherish and friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
In addition to this book, the author has written four novels. She divides her time between Oregon and New Mexico.