Let's see...where to start...well that's us over there (Don and Kelly) at our high school prom...no, ok...it's our wedding (for those of you who are a little slow and/or related to me).  We met in 1991 when we were both fortunate enough to be stationed with the Marines at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.  Don was assigned to the Naval Hospital and Kelly to the New River Air Station, both as Navy Corpsmen.

After getting married in 1992, Kel wound up in San Antonio, Texas (going to school) and Don returned back to Washington, D.C.

After 3 months of being apart, we were both transferred to Groton, Connecticut.  Don was at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute where he trained to join the submarine force (we think he got his love of submarines from his mother who use to enjoy watching submarine races).  Kel was stationed at the Naval Hospital working in the Laboratory Department in the Military Medicine Clinic.  Sometime during that year, our first child, Kayla, was conceived (and unlike most of our relatives, and Don's parents, we were happily married at the time).

Can't stay in one place too long so after 18 months it was off to Norfolk, Virginia where Don reported to USS JACKSONVILLE (SSN 699) and Kelly to the Oceana Naval Air Station.  Kayla was born on 1 November 1994 and Don got to meet her for the first time on 24 December when he came back from a four month deployment.  Soon after his return home, Kelly got out of the Navy to become a full-time mommy.

After four years and way too much time away from his new family, it was time for another change.  So off to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine we went.  We fell absolutely in love with the area (and plan on retiring there).  While there we had our second daughter, Kaitlyn (yes we are original in our naming conventions).  And also, unlike most of our relatives, our second child was planned as well and is from the same two parents (ok, no more family wise cracks).  Two years in Maine was most certainly not enough for us, but it was time for a change of jobs (bad working environment).  So Don terminated shore duty after only 18 months to return to sea duty.

So we made a 3500 mile trek across the country and wound up in Bangor, Washington assigned to USS FLORIDA (SSBN 728) GOLD.  It was extremely beautiful there and reminded us a lot of Maine...except it never stopped raining.  If there were any more month-long marathons of clouds and rain, Don would have been forced to start medicating ourselves.  In it's defense though, when it's nice in Bangor, it's amazing.  It's just there are not a whole lot of nice days to balance things out.  And, it NEVER dries out.  Well, our stay in Washington was not forever and actually came to a close a little sooner than we had planned.  Don's submarine was slated to get converted from an SSBN to an SSGN and that process was going to take place in Norfolk, Virginia.  So after only 2 years there (have you noticed we really move a lot), we were back on the road and heading 3000 miles back to Norfolk.  While in route Don was transferred to the BLUE crew and when we arrived on the east coast the boat officially became, USS FLORIDA (SSGN 728).

We arrived back in wonderful Virginia (sarcasm) in January 2003 and spent the next two years there.  In October 2004 our third (and final) child was born.  And the third time was the charm - it was a boy - Donovan Ryan (big change in naming conventions).  Virginia was definitely not where we wanted to be and five years of sea duty (again) had to come to a close.  This time in Virginia was much more enjoyable than the first, but the area is just saturated with military and too hectic.

In early 2005 Don was selected to become the Command Senior Chief for the USS CONSTITUTION in Boston, Massachusetts.  So by summer we were back on the road and heading back up north.  It was quite a shock to see the real estate prices in Massachusetts, but we were eventually able to find a great place in a quiet suburban community.  The 68 mile drive (each way) eventually got REALLY old.  We bought the house with the expectation of making a lot of improvements to it and that's what we did for the next three years, night and day.  It was A LOT of work and hopefully will pay off when we sell the house.  While stationed in Massachusetts, Don was promoted to Master Chief and then selected for conversion to Command Master Chief.  On 01 October 2008 he transferred from CONSTITUTION.

Unfortunately, when Don transferred, Kelly and the kids did not.  The housing market throughout the states is horrible right now (2008), but especially in New England.  It was estimated that our house actually DECREASED in value by about 29% in 2008, even though the improvements we made should have increased the value by about $80,000.  So we are keeping the house off the market until summer 2009 and have our fingers crossed to have it sold just after the kids finish school.  We'll then move them down to Virginia to join Don who is now stationed back at the shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia assigned to Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron TWO as the Command Master Chief.  This is now our third time in Virginia, which is amazing since we said we didn't want to come back here after the first time!  Maybe, like our kids, the third time will be the charm.  We'll see...

Well, that's our story so far...hope you enjoyed it (yeah right).

Best viewed at 1024x768 with Internet Explorer To send comments or e-mail - click here. © 2000 - 2009 Donald B. Abele, Jr.  All rights reserved. This page last updated:  01 November 2008