Living with a broken heart

Savatrie Narayan, a 29-year-old nursing major who goes by the nickname Savvy, lives that life everyday. 

She has three children; two boys and one girl. Since her husband Rob Narayan is in the army and stationed in Arlington, Va., Narayan takes care of their children on her own. Getting married and having children was a quick and difficult adjustment for Narayan.

The couple got engaged in the beginning of December 2002 after meeting on July 4. They were married on Valentine's Day just two months later. Narayan said that it was kind of an arranged marriage since the two hit it off immediately.

Their first child was born only about 14 months after the wedding. She says that she went into the marriage knowing she would only be able to see him one weekend a month and sometimes not even that.

Soon after the birth of their first child, her husband left for three months. He was there for the pregnancy and delivery of their daughter but had to leave the night she was born for another three months. Then came their third child, which is their second son.

"He was born Dec. 13. Then Rob left Jan. 1 and he was deployed for two years, that was definitely an adjustment," said Narayan.

After his deployment, he was home for nine months then reactivated in March 2009. Since her husband is stationed in Virginia, Narayan and her children are able to visit him on holidays. He even makes trips to visit them when possible.

"For the longest time they thought daddy lived at the airport," said Narayan about her children.

Narayan said that her children are craving the male attention from a father figure.

"Sometimes I feel like I've been cheated out of a husband and that the kids have been cheated out of a dad because he's been gone so long," said Narayan.

Despite the obstacles, Narayan is extremely grateful for her family and her husband's financial role in their family. Her husband's job allows her to take care of the children full time instead of a full time career. That does not mean she takes it easy when her children are at school, though.

"I'm doing school because I'm trying to be financially secure so he isn't left with that role of financial responsibility," Narayan said.

Narayan is currently enrolled in two classes at CFCC.  The combination of taking the children to school and facing unexpected obstacles, such as fevers and colds, can make getting to class difficult.

Narayan's family moved from Guyana, South America to the United States when she was only 21-days-old. After living in New York for nine years, they moved to Florida.  She was born with a heart condition, which did not make the move or her early years easy.

"I was born with Tetrology of Fallot, which is a hole in my heart," Narayan said. "I had my first surgery when I was three, my second surgery when I was 18 and my last surgery this past year in January."

According to the American Heart Association, thousands of babies are born with cardiovascular defects and 9 to 14 percent of those babies have Tetrology of Fallot.

The homograft valve that she now has after her surgeries should last another ten years. A homograft valve is a human aortic valve that is donated by patients. After the donating patient dies the valve is harvested until needed.

Narayan said that she tries to stay very healthy for her children.

"My kids are definitely my number one priority, they come first," said Narayan.