Single mothers in the military and meeting on the internet...

[Jennifer Piersol]

As someone who has many old high school friends who ended up in the
military (wow, that's a loaded statement... I'm a Navy Brat, and I say
something like "ended up in the military"??), I think the going rule
these days is that in order to enlist, you must not be married nor can
you have any children.  I know my father really flouted the rules when
he eloped with his girlfriend 2 years before he graduated college and
became an officer... they kept it secret and she lived with her
parents while he was gone.  Therefore, single mothers in the military
(I know one, by the way, and it was horrible for her...) start out
single, join the military, and then either get married or get
pregnant.  My friend Jennifer just got out of the Navy, and she
regularly had to leave her two children with her parents for 6-month
stretches at a time while she went out to sea.  Her ex-husband used to
abuse her, so she would refuse to leave the children with him, but it
pretty much meant her parents were raising her kids.

Whew, sorry for that rambling paragraph.  I just reread it, and boy,
it stinks, but I'm too lazy to go change it. :)

Some of you may remember me mentioning it before, but I met my husband
on the internet.  That was 9 years ago in a text-based telnet chat
room, and he lived 2000 miles away.  Of course, I met a psycho who
went to school with me first, and that ended in a restraining order
after a death threat... and then I met a 4-year-old in a 20-year-old's
body... but 3rd time's a charm, right?  We've been married for 6.5
years now, and we have our 2 kids, and we're still the best of
friends, despite my penchant for yelling and his inability to listen
to anything I say (hence the yelling).  I can identify with Elkins,
though... Chris is horrible online.  He's rude, he's thoughtless, he
starts arguments, and he has no ability to grasp the finer points of
online sarcasm.  I hate being with him online these days.  However, in
person, he's sweet, charming, funny, intelligent, and shy (although
not as shy as I am)... and I don't know anyone who doesn't like him. 
Funny how people can be totally different online and in person, isn't it?

-Jen, who hopes her girls are smarter about meeting people than her
roommate in college...