Allison Buckholtz told Anacortes Now that she never imagined that she’d marry a military man. “I had grown up in a non-military family and I didn't know anything about military families, or the service. I realized that a lot of the assumptions that I had about military were wrong. A lot of my stereotypes were shattered.“
In her book, she took on the role of a Commander’s wife, which meant organizing events for other wives and trying to keep morale up while their husbands were away on deployment.
Allison will read from her book and sign copies "Standing By: The Making of an American Military Family in a Time of War" this Saturday at 7pm at the Anacortes library.
Her husband’s absence on deployment helped strengthen her family, which now includes two children. “I feel like the deployment made all of us stronger. One thing surprised me: a new kind of bond. Overall, my time in the military has strengthened my sense of civic responsibility. My whole sense of history has changed. I’ve ended up a much more committed American.”
Allison was living and working in Washington, DC, when she met, Scott, her husband-to-be. His Navy assignment was there at the time. But, when he got an assignment to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the family moved to a home in Anacortes.
She told Anacortes Now of her initial reaction to Anacortes. “I felt like we were missing something. In those early days I thought ‘how do I give my kids the kind of upbringing I had always planned to give them?’”
But, she took her kids to see Fiddler on the Roof at Anacortes Community Theatre, “Funny thing is that I saw how wrong I was. One of the first thing we did was took in fiddler on the roof at ACT. My son Ethan was enraptured.”
“At first glance, it seemed like things were missing. We either found them or we didn't need them. There is a difference between what you need and what you want,” she told us. And, she added “Anacortes has become a character in our lives.”
She and her family will be leaving soon. Scott will be going to Bagdad. Allison and her kids, Ethan and Esther will head back to their Maryland home. “The best thing for the kids is to be close to their grandparents. But, we all feel that Anacortes has given us things we don't want to give up.”
There’s much more in the book, including stories of other Navy wives. Then there’s Flat Daddy. Well, you gotta read the book to get that one. Watch a video interview of Allison Buckholtz here.
The book’s Web site is standingbybook.com.