USS Theodore Roosevelt Hosts Mother and Daughter Reunion
Story Number: NNS081128-02
Release Date: 11/28/2008 8:13:00 AM
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Bonnie Williams
USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, At Sea (NNS) -- A USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)Sailor received a special visitor for Thanksgiving Nov. 27 while the ship is deployed in support of Operation Enduring freedom - her mother.
Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 2nd Class Lavette Gonzales, a central technical publications librarian for the "Valions" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 15, and her mother, Jacqueline Easley, a merchant marine aboard the Advanced Auxiliary Dry Cargo/Ammunition ship USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1), managed to overcome the separation of deployment and spend Thanksgiving together.
"Back in Norfolk, Va., before we left, we made a plan," said Easley. "We knew our ships were going to be out there so we made a plan to get together and kept in contact in case a situation came upon us."
During a replenishment at sea operation on Thanksgiving Day, Lewis and Clark was able to get close enough to Roosevelt to make it possible for Easley to be flown over in a helicopter.
"The feeling I felt when I first saw my mother was overwhelming," said Gonzales. "I never thought this would happen on cruise. It was great, I was excited. I miss my mother like everyone else would."
It was four years ago when Gonzalez and her mother last sat down to eat together on Thanksgiving.
"We email each other at least four or five times a week," said Easley. "It's so good to stay connected. Communication is the most important thing. That, and to show that you love each other."
They may not be at home, they said, but this Thanksgiving, against the odds, Easley and Gonzales have each other.
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the 5th Fleet area of responsibility, and is focused on reassuring regional partners of the United States commitment to security, which promotes stability and global prosperity.
