"Reflections" A Collection of Writing by students in Bray and Wicklow Collection 1 | Page 21

It was at the base he met April. He hadn’t expected to find such true
love as he had with her and welcomed it. Within a year they were
married. Soon after, April became pregnant with their daughter, but
six months into the pregnancy Adam was deployed on a five month
mission travelling across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Arctic
Ocean. Although April was strong about Adam leaving, he felt
heartache leaving her at this time and missing the birth of his
daughter. He took some comfort in knowing that April and the baby
would have a lot of support at the naval base while he was gone.
The five months passed quickly. There wasn’t much down time to get
carried away with missing home, and his Navy brothers were in similar
situations, so they were there for each other on the harder days.
Still, he looked forward to coming home. April spoke to him on the
radio and sent updates and pictures via social media when their
daughter Eva was born.
Adam came home on August 8 th 2015. Eva was two months old by this
time. On arriving he wasn’t sure how he would feel towards the
daughter he’d never met Would he bond easily after missing the birth
and those precious first months? He was full of anxiety and nerves as
The USS Tawara docked into the busy Mayport Harbour. Within
minutes of exiting the ship he saw April holding his daughter, waving
excitedly towards him. He rushed towards them and he will never
forget the overwhelming love and joy he felt in that moment when he
held his child for the first time. Then Adam knew. He knew he had
finally found home with his own family.
ND