Hi, all—
As you know, I loved serving my country, especially aboard warships. So why did I finally disembark from the Fleet? In short, the rabbit died. Though it wasn't planned, my husband was overjoyed. The CO of my then-current ship, was decidedly less so. As for me, I was in utter shock. Not only had I never planned on having kids, I'd recently returned from six months at sea. During that deployment, I'd been sitting on a pier in Pusan, Korea, on my second wedding anniversary, counting up how many days I'd actually spent with my husband. (Since he was an Army Combat Engineer/Sapper at the time, there were only so many posts where he could be stationed & most were nowhere near naval ports.)
As you know, I loved serving my country, especially aboard warships. So why did I finally disembark from the Fleet? In short, the rabbit died. Though it wasn't planned, my husband was overjoyed. The CO of my then-current ship, was decidedly less so. As for me, I was in utter shock. Not only had I never planned on having kids, I'd recently returned from six months at sea. During that deployment, I'd been sitting on a pier in Pusan, Korea, on my second wedding anniversary, counting up how many days I'd actually spent with my husband. (Since he was an Army Combat Engineer/Sapper at the time, there were only so many posts where he could be stationed & most were nowhere near naval ports.)
Anyway, by cobbling together hours & days, I came up with maybe three months that we'd spent in the same geographical location—in the 2 1/2 years since we'd met! When I added on the reality that if I stayed in, I'd be deploying again for 6 months when our daughter was 6 months old—I was suddenly, seriously, conflicted. And there was the fact that my husband was looking at an 18-24 month unaccompanied tour on his end, meaning I'd have to leave our baby with my parents when I deployed. As much as I adored my parents, I bailed.
While I do miss the Fleet, I don't regret the decision. My husband & I have four kids now, and I've been able to be there as they've grown up. That said, there are a lot of couples & single providers who do/must decide to slog through & make those endless separations work. I sincerely salute them. Because it's tough. Adding kids into the mix only makes it tougher. And, yup, for those who've read my romantic suspense novels, these are some of the realities of military life that I left out—because, well, it's "romantic" fiction. 🙃
Now that I've introduced the Navy side of myself, in my next two newsletters I'll share a bit on why an Army detective features so prominently in my Deception Point thrillers. (Hint: I wasn't always an officer...or even Navy. I also had the coolest job in college.) I'll even toss in some amusing photos from my very early days to explain my dual personality.
—Candace