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Oliver's wife Ana is a writer. Because she wrote such fantastic answers to the questions I sent regarding her husband's service in the Navy, I'd like to include for you, this Servicemen Sunday, Ana's very own words. You won't be sorry for reading. Ana has a great personal voice and captures a great snapshot of their life, submarine style.
What Branch of the Service? How long?
Ana: Navy, Submarine service, 9 years
Currently deployed? Just him, or all of you? Living overseas?
Not deployed, which is why we love our duty station right now. Hadn't thought of it as all of us deployed, but that's actually a pretty good description of it. We're in the Bahamas for a shore duty after spending six years on a submarine. We see lots of each other, which is awesome, but have had to adapt to a very different way of living along the way. It was absolutely worth it, though.
Tell me about your husband. What does he like to do when he isn't working?
He's actually a bit of a gamer, mostly online, and pretty good at it, too. He got me into it a bit, so we like to play each other when the kids are in bed. He also shares my travel bug.
Not deployed, which is why we love our duty station right now. Hadn't thought of it as all of us deployed, but that's actually a pretty good description of it. We're in the Bahamas for a shore duty after spending six years on a submarine. We see lots of each other, which is awesome, but have had to adapt to a very different way of living along the way. It was absolutely worth it, though.
Tell me about your husband. What does he like to do when he isn't working?
What about you? What do you like to do?
I am discovering my more domestic side living in the Bahamas. I really love cooking, and have learned a lot about making things from scratch since we aren't able to find many of our favorites since moving here. I also garden, another side effect of living here. The food I grow is not just a hobby, but helps both our budget and my ability to make some familiar things for us. We cannot, for instance, but any fresh herbs here, so I grow the ones I can. I'm also a writer and am slogging through a novel I hope to have ready for a publisher by the time we leave here.
Kids?
Yep. Wyatt just turned six and is in kindergarten class of 4 (two are first graders) and he loves it, especially art. Oscar is three, and has brought much laughter to our lives. Both are boys, which keeps my world nice and loud and messy. Just the way I like it.
What do you do when Oliver is away/deployed? How do you make it easier on the family?
Well, here's the thing about submarine service: when the boat is gone, it is truly gone. Communication is, at best, emails that never seem to reach us at the right time. I will, for instance, write one asking Oliver a question, but the next email I receive in return doesn't mention it. That's because he wrote his email long before he got the one that I sent. If he even got the one I sent, as they often mysteriously vanish along the way. Also, we have to assume someone has read our emails along the way, as they check them for bad news, which is supposed to be reported along more official channels. Obviously, this means a little more editing than I would normally do. Sometimes, we can get letters, so Oliver started drawing pictures after we had Wyatt whenever he was able to send a letter out. That helped a lot because Wyatt was not yet reading (which made understanding email impossible), but missed his daddy terribly.
I am discovering my more domestic side living in the Bahamas. I really love cooking, and have learned a lot about making things from scratch since we aren't able to find many of our favorites since moving here. I also garden, another side effect of living here. The food I grow is not just a hobby, but helps both our budget and my ability to make some familiar things for us. We cannot, for instance, but any fresh herbs here, so I grow the ones I can. I'm also a writer and am slogging through a novel I hope to have ready for a publisher by the time we leave here.
Yep. Wyatt just turned six and is in kindergarten class of 4 (two are first graders) and he loves it, especially art. Oscar is three, and has brought much laughter to our lives. Both are boys, which keeps my world nice and loud and messy. Just the way I like it.
What do you do when Oliver is away/deployed? How do you make it easier on the family?
I learned very quickly that the best way to get through deployments was to just focus on my life as much as possible. I tried to plan things to keep me and the boys busy, and have used the opportunity to visit college friends in far flung places that I knew Oliver wouldn't want to go see because he's never met them before. I tried not to obsessively check my email, and was actually glad I didn't have to carry the phone with me 24/7 because he wasn't going to be able to call me, anyway. It was one less thing to freak out about. Nothing worse than missing your deployed loved one's call because you were in the shower or something.
In order to keep our marital relationship tight, we trade journals. Every underway he went out on, we swapped them so the other person could read what their spouse wrote while we were apart. So, each journal ended up being a back and forth record of each patrol. I also put together care packages that he took with him to open up while at sea. My favorite was the one I did for his first run, a month after our wedding. I wrote a letter about something about me that he didn't know yet (like stories from my time in college or my childhood that I didn't think I'd told him yet). I matched them with pictures from the time frame I was writing about. I did enough so he would have one to open a week.
What's the best part of military life?
Definitely the ability to travel and live crazy places you'd never think of living if it hadn't been for the Navy. Obviously, this wouldn't be a great thing for some people, but I am not one to settle down. I find great joy in traveling and it's so different being able to live somewhere rather than just visit it. I'm thrilled also, that our boys seem to enjoy it, too. They've gone more places at their ages than I had at 18. I actually got my first passport the same time we got theirs. Financially, our time in the military has also been very good for us. I had a lot of student loan debt when we married, plus a car loan that seemed huge. Two years and a reenlistment bonus later, it was all paid off and we've had no reason to get back into debt since. Oh, did I mention the homecomings? Seriously, it's kind of like honeymooning all over again. I love, love that part.
The hardest part?
Having our oldest while his daddy was out to sea. Missing time that we can't get back. In truth, this part doesn't seem as terrible now that we've been through it and passed it, but it's excruciating when you are going through it, knowing he just missed his son's first steps or have to watch the baby pull away from daddy when he comes home because his memory is foggy on who this person is. It's hard to give those things up. It's hard to celebrate holidays apart, or slog through the middle of a deployment when it feels as if it is going to last forever.
Please join me in thanking Oliver, Ana and their boys for their service and sacrifice. One click, one comment, one thank you. It's just a moment of time really, to say thank you, and yet this family gives so much more than that. A heartfelt Thank You is the very least we can do. And, as always, please please remember to keep Oliver, and all of our Servicemen and women in your prayers.
If you'd like to keep up with Ana, her family, and her writing, you can check out her blog via the link below.
Sunrise on the Water
Definitely the ability to travel and live crazy places you'd never think of living if it hadn't been for the Navy. Obviously, this wouldn't be a great thing for some people, but I am not one to settle down. I find great joy in traveling and it's so different being able to live somewhere rather than just visit it. I'm thrilled also, that our boys seem to enjoy it, too. They've gone more places at their ages than I had at 18. I actually got my first passport the same time we got theirs. Financially, our time in the military has also been very good for us. I had a lot of student loan debt when we married, plus a car loan that seemed huge. Two years and a reenlistment bonus later, it was all paid off and we've had no reason to get back into debt since. Oh, did I mention the homecomings? Seriously, it's kind of like honeymooning all over again. I love, love that part.
The hardest part?
Having our oldest while his daddy was out to sea. Missing time that we can't get back. In truth, this part doesn't seem as terrible now that we've been through it and passed it, but it's excruciating when you are going through it, knowing he just missed his son's first steps or have to watch the baby pull away from daddy when he comes home because his memory is foggy on who this person is. It's hard to give those things up. It's hard to celebrate holidays apart, or slog through the middle of a deployment when it feels as if it is going to last forever.
Please join me in thanking Oliver, Ana and their boys for their service and sacrifice. One click, one comment, one thank you. It's just a moment of time really, to say thank you, and yet this family gives so much more than that. A heartfelt Thank You is the very least we can do. And, as always, please please remember to keep Oliver, and all of our Servicemen and women in your prayers.
If you'd like to keep up with Ana, her family, and her writing, you can check out her blog via the link below.
Sunrise on the Water
