Always Available, Even When At Sea

October 28, 2021

Ahead of her husband’s DC3 Nate VanVleck deployment, Navy spouse Christy VanVleck heard about United Through Reading from a friend and soon received a free book with information about the UTR app at an event. Thinking the world was giving her a sign Christy downloaded the App and had Nate record a story for their, then almost, 2-year-old Amylia.

Loving their experience right away, Nate packed a few books with him and continued to make recordings while aboard the ship and uploading them on port calls.

“We’ve tried to send 2 minute long videos through text and it didn’t work. However the UTR App made it possible for Nate to send the entire book recording and the quality of the video is great,” Christy shared. The family tried to send short video texts as well over wifi but they never came through or the quality was terrible.

The UTR videos were particularly helpful when Nate was at sea and couldn’t call or text home. Their UTR videos though were always available with the UTR App to use whenever Amylia wanted to see her dad, especially at bedtime, bringing comfort to the whole family.

“It’s just been great to have that moment, it’s one less thing mommy had to do at night. It’s a lot to be able to be a single parent all day long and one thing you get to give to your spouse even if it’s virtual,” she shared.

As the VanVlecks prepare for another deployment in the next year, Christy knows that the UTR App will be a part of their future deployments. As a UTR Social Media Ambassador, she loves sharing her UTR story with other military families so that their families can also stay connected through storytime.