BERMUDA and BAINBRIDGE

by Danna Shirley

We were newlyweds.  Ron and I had only dated face to face for three months before he went to Viet Nam and upon his return we were Reno bound.  Needless to say, our first months were spent just getting to know each other.  I knew he was a Second Class ET (Electronics Technician) in the Navy but I didn’t have a clue what that meant or what his work day was like.  Our evenings were spent in a honeymoon mode…you know, unconscious to daily doings.

The first year we were married Ron attended an electronics school at Treasure Island in San Francisco, California.  Although he had been in the Navy eight years, I was still new to this “Navy” stuff and had never experienced getting orders or packing out and moving to a new destination.  He was expecting shore duty and had completed his “dream sheet” but there were no guarantees.

Finally, the orders arrived…he was to serve two years in BERMUDA!  Wow!  I was ecstatic!  My thoughts naturally turned to sunny days and moonlit nights on this tropical island.  I went to a travel agency for brochures…they didn’t lie.  It was a paradise and a haven for Hollywood stars.  The year was 1970.  Fantasy was in control but reality was on the horizon. 

I had lived in California all my life so moving was foreign to me, especially across the U. S. and across the ocean; however, it was an adventure that I would experience many times over.  Ron had moved with the Navy before so he instructed me what to keep and what to discard.  Anything left in the house would be packed and boxed…even a bag of garbage or a stack of newspapers if we didn’t get them taken out in time.   I began going through kitchen cabinets, closets, and dresser drawers.  It’s amazing what one hangs onto thinking it might be needed someday; but when there’s no room in the box, it’s easily tossed. 

As I reached Ron’s dresser drawers making decisions about socks, T-shirts, and underwear, I found a beautiful leather case.  Inside was an expensive pen and pencil set.  I wondered where it came from so I asked him, “Ron, what’s this?”

“Oh, I got that when I graduated from ET school,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Did everyone get one of these?” I asked a little dumbfounded.

“No,” again matter-of-factly.

“Well, why did they give you one?” I inquired in absolute shock.

“Oh, I graduated first in my class,” he exclaimed like it was no big deal.

This was my first clue that I had married a very smart man.  He never bragged on himself and if he told me anything at all about his accomplishments, I had to drag it out of him.  He did not want to be accused of pride or ostentation.

The movers came and our household goods were to arrive in about three months.  Ron reported for duty leaving me to stay with his parents until he found a place for us to live. When I received a plane ticket from the Navy, I considered it an indication to join him.  Unfortunately my trip took two days having to spend the night somewhere along the way.  A nice male passenger offered me a ride to the airport hotel and I happened to meet the stewardess from my flight in the lobby.  She wasn’t much older than I and asked if I would like to room with her for company.  We stayed up all night talking…just like two teenagers!  I was naïve but it was 1970 and God protected me!

I was surprised to see Ron when I disembarked the plane because he didn’t know I was coming.  He was surprised I was coming because he hadn’t sent for me and didn’t have a place for us to live.  We stayed with a couple he had met until a spare room was available to rent on the back of someone’s house.  We had kitchen privileges and I stayed in our room most of the day.  The humidity was so severe that my pants would get wet whenever I sat on the bed.

Bermuda happens to be only twenty-one square miles and we saw all there was to see on the first weekend we were together.  Everything was very expensive and as a Navy couple, you can image that our budget was limited to say the least.  It did not seem to be quite the paradise for residents as it was for tourists.  Before we could find a permanent place to live, Ron received new orders to return to the states and go to Prep School in Bainbridge, Maryland.  Our household goods had not even been shipped from the states yet.  So this was the Navy???!!!  Hmmmm!

A passenger on our return flight happened to be Engelbert Humperdinck.  We saw him get on the plane and we saw him get off the plane but he was in first class and we were in coach.  No fraternization! 

We spent just three months in Bainbridge while Ron attended a school in preparation for college at Ole Miss.  We rented a small apartment above a Five and Dime Store which had a hole in the kitchen floor that you could look through and see people walking around downstairs.  Our landlord, we learned, was famous for disappearing whenever the deposit on the apartment was to be refunded.   

It was summertime and the heat was sweltering.  Our little one-window unit barely worked.  There was a very steep staircase going down the backside of the building which I braved daily to take out the garbage.  There was one step near the top that only had half of a board secured to it and you had to turn your foot sideways to even use it.  On one particular descent I missed the step and slid down each step all the way to the bottom and never lost my footing.  It was a miracle considering what I was to find out next!

Soon after I began to get sick in the mornings and learned that our six-week stay in Bermuda had blessed us with our first child. All complaints vanished. Bermuda gave us the gift of …

KRISTEN VALERA SHIRLEY

Born:  February 27, 1971

Weight:  8 lbs, 7 ½ oz.