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Robert Phillip Turner, (only his Mother may call him that), was born in Battlecreek, MI, on February 14, 1964, to Leroy & Patricia Turner.  Ahh, their life was never the same after that day.  From there, as a small child, he spent an extended amount of time in Germany on two separate occasions related to his father's Army career.  Leroy settled in El Paso, Texas and there, Bob was to become one of the neighborhood hellions while attempting to finish his schooling.  After graduating high school, he "bummed" around for a couple of years and then finally made an "assisted" decision to join the US Navy, following in the footsteps of both his father and Steve Knotts, his best friend.  This was to be the first major turning point in his life.  There, through a chain reaction of strange-but-true coincidences,  he met Sheila, who soon became his bride. (He enjoys telling the story, but you have to ask.)  Shortly after being married on Christmas Eve 1985,  he adopted Sheila's 10 year old daughter, Ann-Jeanette, who he loved as if she were his own blood. (Later, unexplainable by modern science, she was to exhibit traits that showed her to be her father's daughter!)   During his five year career as a Navy signalman, he spent extensive amounts of time at sea, while Sheila was left to keep the home fires burning in true loving fashion.  He made friends on several continents and continues to keep in touch with some "mates from down under".  After leaving the Navy, he was faced with supporting a family with no civilian training to speak of.  Bob began college six months later, unbeknownst to him, beginning the second major turning point in his life.  After tackling school with a vengeance, he graduated in 1995 from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing.  He spent a year working in a long term care facility and a year in the OR of a large hospital before moving to Tolland, CT, where he currently works as a visiting nurse, a job which he enjoys.  

Sheila Rae Turner, (don't you dare use that middle name!), was born in Des Moines, Iowa on July 17, 1954 to Juanita and Frederick Linke. She grew up in Florida, finally settling in Ocala for the formative high school years.  Married at the tender age of 19, she moved to Louisiana for about a year or so.  Moving back to Ocala, she gave birth in 1975 to a bouncing baby girl; this was definitely a major turning point in Sheila's life and so she named this bundle of joy Angie. After living with her parents for a while after her divorce, she moved up the corporate ladder at a retail department store.  While in a management position, an employee asked her if she would be interested in meeting a sailor whom she knew from her childhood who was staying with her for a couple of days before he shipped out.  He had been in the store and, after seeing this lovely vision from heaven, begged his childhood friend to introduce him to Sheila.   Two short months later they were married; and although things wouldn't change drastically for Sheila for about a year, this was the next turning point in her life.  For three weeks after the wedding, her new husband was to be shipped out to sea for, you guessed it,  about a year.  When her sailor returned, she was uprooted yet again and moved to San Francisco for three and a half years.  Here, she endured more time of her husband being at sea while she kept up the home front.  After leaving the Navy life, they moved to El Paso, (ha, and she thought deserts were supposed to be beautiful!).  After working in the stock sector for a couple of years, she quit work and began going to school full time, studying Surgical Technology.  The next turning point in her life came in 1996 when Sheila graduated from college with an Associates Degree in Surgical Technology.  After working in a large hospital OR for about a year or so,  they moved to Tolland, CT where she began working in a small community hospital and continues there today. 

 

Bob and Sheila enjoy vacationing (oh boy, do they!), and in 2001, decided to become certified scuba divers.  Since then, they have gone on and received their advanced open water certification.  This has led to an increasing infatuation with diving, causing all vacations to be taken around warm, clear water, namely the Caribbean.  Bob and Sheila's new life motto is "Dive while you can".

 

As time goes on, they hope to be able to add to their life story with more turning points and events, friends and strangers, and of course, loved ones.