Enlisted and Alone: Memoir of a Navy SEAL Wife

by Cindy Messer

Widowed at twenty by her husband’s suicide, Cindy Messer spent five years alone, struggling with the ache of survivor’s guilt and learning how to regain a sense of normalcy again in her life. Unexpectedly, she finds love and is thrust into the military special operations community as the wife of a young Navy SEAL.
Enlisted and Alone is the memoir of one woman’s struggle to adapt to the completely new and different military lifestyle of loneliness, patriotism, and being a “married-single parent.” It’s a true account of how love, honor, loyalty, courage, commitment, and resilience helped keep her family together through tough times and fifteen years of marriage to life in Naval Special Warfare.
As a newcomer to military culture, she details the accounts of long separations, resentment, unexpected departures of her husband in the middle of the night, and the relationships that helped her keep things together. Deployment after deployment, the responsibility for being head of household and raising two young boys seemed to rest on her shoulders alone.
A testament to the power of unfailing love, hers is a story of struggle and commitment to not only her husband and children, but to his Brotherhood of elite warriors that became her family too.
Enlisted and Alone is a powerful true story and an easy read with a message that gives hope and encouragement to not only military wives, but any woman who feels alone in a marriage.

170 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2018

Reviews

[Skylar Baumer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an absolute must-read for anyone in a relationship with a service member. As someone who is currently engaged to a man who just joined the Navy and is about to leave for boot camp, I can honestly say finding this book came at the perfect time. It offers a powerful and honest look at the unique challenges of military life, from navigating long deployments to raising a family while your partner is away. The author does an incredible job of making you feel seen and heard, validating the complex emotions that come with this journey and reminding you that you're never alone in your feelings. I feel this book will better prepare me for the difficult times ahead, and I highly recommend it to anyone in a similar situation.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Cindy for sharing your story! As a Navy wife of 21 years (so far) I can relate to everything you said. It is nice to know that we mil spouses are going through the same thing.

I think your book should be recommended reading for all new spouses. This would have helped me so much earlier in my husband's career when I did feel more alone.

[Ashley Borgard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most honest and fun reads regarding life as a military spouse or significant other. Cindy shares her story as a way to make us all feel connected, I love this book!