Ron was on
assignment in Bermuda for a two-year shore duty when he received word that he
was to return to Bainbridge, MD to attend prep school in preparation for NESEP
(Naval Enlisted Scientific Education Program). As an enlisted man, completing
this program would give him an engineering degree, courtesy of the U. S. Navy,
and a commission as an officer. He was to pay back two years active duty for
each year he was in college. This would put him within four years of a 20-year Navy
retirement.
While
stationed in Bainbridge, we found an apartment in Perryville, MD. It was a
small place over a 5¢ & 10¢ store.
Evidently there must have been a fire in our apartment because there was a hole
in the kitchen floor made by an ax that looked down onto an underwear display
table below. The apartments were in poor shape and the back staircase leading
down to the garbage cans had only half a board on the third from the top step.
You had to turn your foot sideways to use it. One of my trips down was only
three steps long. When I hit that third board, I scooted all the way to the
bottom on the soles of my shoes . . . scary! Because I had just found out I
was pregnant, I let the owner know real quick that I could have had a
miscarriage. However, he never fixed that step anyway.
To complete this picture I must tell you about
Perryville. I even bought postcards to prove it. One was labeled Main Street
and the other the Business District . . . but they are the same street; the pictures
were taken on opposite corners.
Since we
were only in Perryville for a three-month class, the owner of the 5¢ & 10¢
was conveniently out of town whenever the class graduated; therefore, no one
got their deposit back because they couldn’t wait around for him to return.
Enlisted families are desperate for every dime so I hounded the man ahead of
time. Because of that back stair incident, he didn’t dare pull that
disappearing act on me.
Kristen was
conceived in Bermuda, I learned I was pregnant in Perryville, and then we were
off to Oxford, MS. We rented a small two bedroom trailer (12’ x 47’) and were
blissfully happy awaiting the birth of our first baby. Our neighbors in the
trailer park were Ronnie and Deanna Denney, owners of the local Shipley’s Donut
Shop. Navy friends were Bill and Sharon Christiansen, Glenn and Lurlene Myers,
Jim and Lana Freeman, and Ed and Gloria Cox. It was surprising to me that all the husbands were fishermen but because
they were all southerners I guess I should not have been surprised at all. I had never known a fisherman until I married Ron.
The first semester
at Ole Miss began in August 1970 and my due date was February
4, 1971. Ron settled into a routine of classes, studying, and writing
papers but quickly left the bookwork for the fishing bank, which was just too
inviting. He skated through his courses with a minimum amount of effort.
My
pregnancy progressed without incident. On February 6,
1971, Ron, Ronnie, Ed, Bill, Jim, and Glenn decided they would go
fishing. The weather was cold and none of us could understand why they wanted
to go in such dreary weather. The wives rose up in protest considering my due date and stayed with me just in case I needed
a ride to the hospital. The guys said they would only be gone a few hours. “What
could happen in a few hours?”
After it
began to snow, we expected their swift return. Seven hours later we were
calling the Highway Patrol and the hospitals inquiring of any accidents. All
the wives were fighting mad and spitting bullets! I just sat there afraid to
move, afraid I might go into labor.
Finally,
the men trooped through the door gushing apologies. Evidently they decided that
it was too cold to fish, so they went to the donut shop and cooked steaks and
drank beer all afternoon. They did not even know
when it had begun to snow. Each wife grabbed up her husband and out the door
they went. Ron and I were left staring at each other too shocked to discuss his
inconsideration; he knew he had “done wrong!” I was just glad nothing had
happened to him. I had never lived in snow before and
I didn’t relish the idea of driving in it to the hospital.
Oxford was
a small college town with three
trailer parks. Two on the west side of town where most of the other Navy
families lived and our trailer was up on a hill as you came into town on the east
side. We were still awaiting our baby when a tornado came through town. I had never experienced a tornado; the noise and motion
of the trailer were frightening but I felt safer with Ron around to watch over
me.
Our poor
parents in California and Alabama were hearing the news that a tornado had gone
through two trailer parks in Oxford,
Mississippi. Trees had fallen on trailers and had gone through walls like
splinters. The lines were down for several days. No one could find out if we
had been affected and I was over two weeks late to have this baby. I had heard
that a change in barometric pressure could start labor but here I was still
waiting.
Then on
Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m., I began to have some discomfort. We counted the
minutes and headed for the hospital. I was put in a waiting room with another mother
in labor. After eleven hours, the doctor told Ron to go home and get some
dinner; nothing would happen before his return. Surprise! As the elevator doors opened, he was greeted by the other
expectant father… “Hey, you’ve got a girl!”
KRISTEN VALERA SHIRLEY
Born:
February 27, 1971 at 6:20 p.m.
Weight: 8 lbs. 7 ½ ounces
entered our lives and she was beautiful. I remember the
doctor holding her above my head and my first glimpse of her made me think of a
glazed blueberry do-nut.
Even though
the pregnancy and delivery were uneventful, I was having some complications at
home. My in-laws were already on their way to see their first grandchild when
they arrived to the news that I was back in the hospital. Gran said she would
look after Kristen through the night but Ron insisted that he would take care
of her himself. She had to laugh after that first feeding. Kristen cried and
cried, Ron never stirred, and Gran finally got up and took over the night
shift.
Today,
Kristen is 43, with two daughters of her own. She is still beautiful . . . inside and
out!
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