A Veteran’s New Mission: Healing Herself
A Veteran’s New Mission: Healing Herself
Words by Jo Arlow, Images by Audra Mulkern
When asked whether life on her heirloom vegetable farm has helped her heal from her time in the military, Stepheni Norton, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran replies thoughtfully, “I’m looking out the window at my farm right now and putting the past handful of years together in my head.” Her military career as a Chief Petty Officer ended abruptly in 2013, and Stephanie returned home to newly-purchased land in National City, California.
“I didn’t come from a farming upbringing, and wouldn’t have said ‘Oh, my transition from service was helped by the fact that I was out in the dirt,’” says Stepheni. “But today I would have to say yes absolutely because I’ve learned so much and experienced so much more. The farm gave me focus and mission again—and a purpose. ”
Stepheni is the first to admit that her exit from the military was difficult, even though she had a husband and the newly purchased three-quarter-acre homestead—which they had named W.D Dickinson—to return to. When the property was purchased in early 2012, farming was not in her line of sight. Although Stepheni was an accomplished regulatory compliance professional, she was not even a gardener.
But just before her deployment, Stepheni was bitten by a tick. And during her service, including time at Guantanamo Bay, her well-being deteriorated. She experienced crippling fatigue, severe weakness, and pain. “I didn’t know I had Lyme disease, and didn’t know I was on what would be my last deployment before retirement,” she recalls.
As her condition worsened, Stepheni continued working. But eventually, her condition became so serious that she was medically retired by the Coast Guard. “I was angry and bitter because I had given up my business career to serve my country,” says Stephanie—and then suffered a frightening and debilitating illness, only to feel abandoned when she needed community support the most. Her frustration was compounded by doctors who did not understand her symptoms. It took another year to diagnose her and to finally commence rigorous daily antibiotic treatment.
Then one of her doctors gave her a somewhat unusual and life-changing prescription: Try to eat as healthfully as possible, with as much fresh, organic food as she could. While Stepheni noticed that her daily health was improved by this new eating regimen, it was not easy to find organic food in her new hometown. So she turned to the idea of growing vegetables for herself in her own backyard.
As the months passed, Stepheni was mindful to work at the pace her body dictated, and ultimately her gardening proved bountiful as her health rebounded. She noticed she had less inflammation and felt stronger, less fatigued. It struck her that others might benefit from eating this way, and so she and her husband began to provide produce for friends and others in need in the community. That philosophy of healthful, healing food is still the heart of the farm, which has grown to include numerous productive garden beds and fruit trees. It is comprised entirely of heirloom fruit, vegetables, and herbs with a lengthy product list that includes apples, beets, carrots, kohlrabi, lemongrass, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, and figs. This abundance has allowed them to offer CSAs and to provide their harvests to local restaurants.
The farm has come a long ways since 2014. In 2018, it turned a 20 percent profit even with an additional full-time employee. When she thinks about this impressive success, Stepheni can see connections to her military background.
“All of us in the military adjust quickly wherever we are dropped, and [we] get the mission done. You put your feet down and get it done. And the farm gave me that back while I was going through all this anger and frustration,” says Stepheni. “I really had felt like my shipmates and crew had left me. So I was able to take that hurt and anger and take it out on something—the farm work—and see it flourish.”
No matter how unwell Stepheni felt on any given day, the farm gave her focus. She had to get out of bed, water the seedlings, check on plants, and get through a long, never-ending to-do list. “There were no other options,” she says. “Just like in service.”
Another comparison occurs to her. The farm provides distinct cycles and the sounds of noisy equipment—not unlike being aboard a ship or stationed in Guantanamo Bay. “When your brothers and sisters are gone, you lose that rhythm of life and the constant rumble,” says Stepheni. “It can be daunting and strange. It’s so quiet, almost frighteningly quiet.”
But the din of farm life quickly eased that discomfort.
Like many veterans who leave the military, Stepheni is still inspired to be of service to others in her community. Putting her 20-year business career to use, Stepheni works through a federal program, the Small Business Development Center, to assist veterans and civilians interested in assessing whether a life on the farm is for them. Both in a formal classroom and through interning opportunities at the Dickinson homestead, she offers technical assistance, business advice, and unvarnished truth about the physical and mental demands of farming. Stepheni hopes to continue this mentoring role, one that provides her with a bit of community in her new life.
As she looks to the future—one without the possibility of military service—she has much to be excited about. She and her husband recently purchased an additional two-acre property and are busy restoring the soil. They plan to plant fig, apple, and pear trees, as well as heirloom grains.
The healing, of course, continues. “I’m still working on processing everything [that’s happened] and on being kind to myself,” Stepheni says. “I still get swells of anger, which is strange to me because I’m a logical person, but now I understand that I have a heart and feelings too.”