Our country is blessed to have incredibly brave men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms. While everyone can see and hear about their everyday operations, people in a military family, especially children, get a unique taste of that life. Their lives are shaped by their parents' service in both good and bad ways. Here are the seven signs you grew up in a military family:
1. It’s hard to answer the question, “Where are you from?”
One of the great things about living in a military family is that you get to live in a bunch of different places. Depending on which branch your family served in, you would move to a new city every two to four years. So when you get to college the question, “Where are you from?” is very difficult to answer. So military kids end up listing off a bunch of cities from across the country.
2. You have friends all over the world.
This is the other side of the moving coin. Since you move around all the time, you meet other military families who have lived it what always seems like more and more exotic places. I have had friends from Alaska, Germany and Puerto Rico all live on the same block. Experiencing all of these different cultures really broadens your scope of the world and teaches you that people are people, wherever they are from.
3. You know the wonders of living in military housing.
Military housing is wonderful. Depending on where you family was stationed, you could live five miles from the base or you could live five feet from it. As a result, you get to see (and sometimes help with) the day to day operations of the base. Military kids always loved the other military kids too, so there is never a shortage of friends to play with. Some of my best friends were made in military housing, and I will never forget how much fun we had living there.
4. You have moving down to a science.
Since your family has to get up and leave so often, you have developed a system on how to move from place to place. The work is always long and hard and you hate it, but when it comes down to it you can literally move house in two days flat. Impressive.
5. You have amazing stories about your family and their service.
These stories usually come out when your mom or dad has one of their friends over and they are reminiscing about the “old days." Every person in the military has at least one (probably more) story that is just incredible. It really shines a light on how far they are willing to go to protect our nation.
6. You know the struggles of having family leave for active duty.
In order to do their job, our service men and women have to leave for extended periods of time, often for months or even years. I know this is really hard for the family. You miss your mom or dad so much, and you cherish the brief phone calls or emails that they send. The day that they return is amazing, and it it really proves that abscence makes the heart grow fonder.
7. Memorial Day has a very special meaning to you
For most, Memorial Day marks the first day of summer and is celebrated with barbecues and pool parties. Those traditions and celebrations really don’t change if you are in a military family, just the attitude surrounding the day is amplifed. Being with people who have served their country and have friends or family who paid the ultimate sacrifice makes Memorial Day a special day to raise a glass to old friends and to celebrate our freedoms.
