Dibs
My buddy met a younger girl from Mexico in school, fell head over heels for her, and wanted to give her a better life. So, he got back into the Coast Guard, where he’d served before, giving him first dibs on his next placement. He’d already done a stint on a ship for years.
The training school took about five months. While he’s at school, his girl joins the Coast Guard too but keeps it hush-hush. These two were from South Texas, so he jumped at a chance for a station in Galveston, close to both their families. But life had other plans, and she gets packed off to Oregon, landlocked. The closest they could get him to her is Seattle. Not ideal, but he took it to be close to his girl.
Just when they thought they had the pieces falling in place – she gets transferred to Seattle. All’s well, right? Well, not quite. On graduation day, they change his orders, and he’s whisked off to a polar ice breaker, set to go around the world for about seven months.
He’s off the southern coast of South America when he hears she’s been booted from the Coast Guard. The reason? Substances and an affair with a coworker. Now she’s dancing at a club.
Did they miss any warning signs before tying the knot? Hard to say, but it didn’t seem like it. My buddy’s a good guy, and the whole situation went sideways fast. Crazy how things change, huh?