I served in the US Navy for eight years, most of that time in a shore-based role in Norfolk, Virginia. It was during this time that I was introduced, via a mutual friend, to a single mother of three girls.
At the time she was recently divorced, for the second time. The eldest girl was from her first marriage and was 10 years old at the time of this story. The two other girls were from her subsequent marriage, and were five and seven years old when I got to know them.