Helena Albertin Deaton

Our latest adventure has brought us to the UK for 3 years. Mark took a military leave of absence from Delta Airlines and returned to active duty with the Air Force. We were fortunate to get an assignment overseas and he's flying combat search and rescue helicopters at RAF Lakenheath. I'm enjoying being an Air Force wife, something I never would have imagined for myself. I married Mark in 2000, who was my next door neighbor growing up in Costa Rica when I was a kid. Finding Mark was amazing - it's hard to explain how great it is to be with someone who easily understands so much of who you are and what shaped your life experiences. We've been sharing adventures together since 1998 - including raising a family, the biggest adventure of all!


Ian started British school in September 2007 and has developed a lovely British vocabulary! (I'm still waiting for the accent, but he's faithful to his American roots.)

I've been volunteering at the Family Practice Clinic on the base near our home twice a week to keep up my clinical skills. Being here has also given us great travel opportunities, which we try to take advantage of often. All in all, it's been a special experience being part of an overseas military community. I don't know if I'll be able to make it back this summer...baby number two is due in October.

Other highlights since graduation:

My family moved to Pakistan for 3 years in the middle of my freshman year at William & Mary. I got to spend summers and Christmas breaks getting to know a different part of the world, an opportunity that likely would not be possible today. It was amazing to see remote areas of Pakistan, travel in India, see Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

After graduating from William & Mary, I spent two summers working in Juneau, Alaska at the Mendenhall Glacier. Alaska is simply stunning.

I had a lot of fun living in New Orleans for 4 years. Grad school at Tulane for 2 years, then working for the Louisiana Office of Public Health for 2 years. I left New Orleans in 1997 to pursue a Master of Science in Nursing at Yale. I've been working as a Nurse Practitioner since 2000 and really enjoy my work.