Truly Blessed Again

The air was crisp, the fall foliage splendid as it was October 18 and at full peak. Steven and Jennifer headed were to Hopewell, Virginia to from Allentown, Pa. They were excited for many reasons, they were setting up housekeeping together, the U-Haul they rented was full to capacity, between furniture clothes, and other domestics necessities.

Steven and Jennifer were also planning on being married on December 20. They would joke to their friends and family that they could still use the wedding date as a tax credit. Steven is the Navy for two and stationed out of Norfolk Virginia and Jennifer was recently hired as a Medical Assistant at the Norfolk Veteran’s Hospital. Jennifer was scheduled to start he orientation on November 8. The distance between Norfolk and Hopewell was only around and hour as the two cities are 63 miles away. The only thing to rain on their parade was that Steven was to be deployed on the USNS “Bowditch” on January 26.

Jennifer and Steven in the meantime would be setting up housekeeping, deciding if they were to be married by a chaplain in Norfolk or back home in Allentown. The happy couple opted for Allentown as there could be snow on the ground by the 20^th of December. Jennifer had acclimated fast to her new position at the VA really well. She found out that the diversity of different duties kept her busy. The managers of the different departments were well pleased with her performance and after thirty days gave her a raise of a $1.50 an hour. Steven and Jennifer also had good medical plans.

The happy couple were granted each a three day leave for the wedding. December 19, they started the drive from Hopewell to Allentown it was approximately a nine-hour drive. They left Hopewell at 8.00 in the morning and were in Allentown by 3:00 in the afternoon. They went to the rectory of the Immaculate Conception Church in Allentown to discuss the wedding the next day. It was going to be a simple affair, sixty people in attendance. Steven was going to wear his dress blues and Jennifer a simple but elegant looking dress.

Their reception was held at the Freemansburg Fire Social Hall in Freemansburg only 25 minutes from Allentown. When all the festivities were over it was around 8:00 pm They packed up the gifts and suitcases for the trip back to Hopewell the next day. Life was great and truly they felt blessed they had each other, they were young and are newlyweds. They had a good income of over $45,000 annually with great medical benefits. Still January 26 loomed a dark cloud over their happiness.

Steven had left on January 25 to prep for his deployment on the USNS “Bowditch” the next day. The “Bowditch” is a pathfinder-class survey ship and operates in the South China Sea. Although Steven was sad to leave Jennifer for a while, he was glad he was only going to be deployed for six months. He had found out two weeks ago that Jennifer was pregnant. Jennifer was due August 26, she got pregnant right after the wedding. There were more jokes to family and friends counting their pregnancy their fingers.

Steven should be home at the end of July to help welcome the new baby and a month’s worth of preparation for the happy event.

There were at times some choppy waters from the Atlantic Coast to the South China Sea but nothing that could not be navigated with ease as the “Bowditch” sailed from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The” Bowditch” was on a mission to check weather conditions and map them out utilizing a multi -beam contour mapping system. The ship had used this after a typhoon in Tacloban, Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

April 16 disaster struck!!after three months at sea of Steven’s deployment, a rogue wave came barreling down on the “Bowditch” without warning. Steven was on the first deck doing inspections, he did not have any flotation devices on as the sea for the most part was calm. The rogue wave was 70ft high and the ship had listed 30 degrees to the starboard side. James fell into the sea with no one noticing that he had been swept over board for an hour and forty-five minutes.

The” Bowditch” did right itself, by the time roll call was called and that is when Steven was known to be missing. The height of the ship is about 20 ft. to the deck. However, between the fall and being swept by the rouge wave it had rendered Steven unconscious. There were search and rescue from many ships in both night day for two days. Unfortunately, there was no trace of anything of Steven’s found not his body or clothes. Steven was missing and presumed dead after two days as that part of the sea had a lot of shark activity.

When Jennifer was notified, she collapsed when the Seaman had told her coming to the front door. Luckily, she landed on the couch with tears in her eyes. Her whole world was torn apart. Here she was probably a widow and a young one at that. She was also going to be a mother in four months. Hopewell, Virginia to Allentown, Pa is 305 miles. Jennifer loved her job and did not want to return to the Allentown area just as yet. She was praying for a miracle her faith strong. Little did she know against all odds the miracle was already happening.

After Steve went overboard and was swept away, he was believed to have been pushed to by a pod of dolphins closer to the Chinese shore. Dolphins are considered to be friends of sailors. They have been known for rescues and guiding ships. No one knows for sure as Steven was unconscious and no one bore witness to the fact they he made have been pushed closer to shore on the account of dolphins. Dolphins also would have kept the sharks away.

Twelve miles from mainland China, a Chinese fishing vessel rescued Steven although unconscious and took him to a hospital where he came back to consciousness two days later. He asked if for someone who spoke English to contact the United States Navy. A translator was found in less than a half hour, a Navy helicopter had taken him from the hospital to a ship to then be transported back to the United States via a jet. Steven then was admitted in the Norfolk Veterans Hospital where Jennifer was still working at five months pregnant.

When Jennifer came on shift her charge nurse told her that there was a new admission that recently came out of a coma and that she should try do a family history and history of present illness. The charge nurse said that she was not sure of his name. Seeing her husband Jennifer burst into tears of joy. Steven was to remain in the states for three years as a naval recruiter. He is back home three months earlier than anticipated. He will be able to be with Jennifer and the baby for over two years! The both of them were ecstatic and feeling truly blessed again.