My name is Dawn Isometsa and I grew up here in Ben Lomond. Most of my time was spent at the "carp lot" (a parking lot old crusty surfers hang out at in Santa Cruz) with my dad. I remember being very small and dad taking off surfing for hours and his buddies watching me and showing me tidepools at low tide. It was an awesome life growing up.
After high school I joined the Navy as a Torpedoman and got stationed out of Pearl Harbor Hawaii on the USS Hopper. I did two deployments and got to see so much of the world including Hong Kong, Singapore, Oman, Dubai, Guam, Seychelles, Africa, Tarawa, Thailand, and Australia. About two months before I left on my second deployment I started dating Cara and 5 years later we are still together. A moment that will always give me the warm fuzzes is thinking about her standing on the pier with our little Min Pin Maverick (who I had yet to meet) watching the ship come in after 4 and a half months away from her. I don't think I have held anyone so tight before or since.
After the ship I got an instructor job teaching torpedo maintenance...I had finally arrived. I planned on staying in the Navy 20 years because I truly loved the work. Unfortunately my career was tragically cut short because at the instructor command there was a Master Chief who found out I was gay. He slandered my relationship and accused me of lies to make an example of the "dyke". He went as far as petitioning congress to pull my instructor qualification...all because I went home to a woman instead of a man. I was forced out of the Navy.
Since then Cara and I moved to Virginia and bought a house on the beach. Then the beach came into our house and flooded it out (48in inside!!). Now we are here in California rebuilding and starting over. It's nice to be home again especially getting to share it with my family.
Well that's a brief history enjoy...
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