I actually don’t mind being called a brat. In ways, it’s a honor. No, I am not talking about the brats that get everything they want or cry when they get the wrong color 2016 Mercedes-Benz. I am talking about being a Military brat. Military brats are children of active-duty military personnel. I was about four years old when my dad retired after 30 hard years of being in the Army. You might be thinking, wow, you can’t consider yourself to be an Army brat, you were only a child. But my dad served 30 years to fight for my freedom and yours. He fought for complete strangers, for you reading this paper, and for his family.

I was born in Virginia. Then three weeks later, my family and I were on a 10 hour flight to Hawaii for a week. My dad was having a bunch of meetings before he was stationed in Burma, now known as Myanmar. I was about four weeks old when I was on an 18 hour flight to Yangon. 18 hours and I was an infant. Imagine being the other people on that flight having to deal with a baby on a flight that would never end. We moved after three years of living in Burma to Tombstone, Arizona. Yes, people do live in that ghost town. My dad retired in December, 2000. My family was finally safe and all together.

Now every time I whip out my military ID card for 15 percent off at tons of my favorite stores, I thank my my dad and every single other person who put their life on the line for me. There are so many perks to being a military child. My best friend is a Navy brat and when we both found out our dads were/are in the military, we were so excited because we each knew what everything was.

Signs that you are a Military child are;

When people ask where you are from, you don’t know what to say. Do you want me to tell you where I lived the longest? Where I just moved from? Everywhere? Nowhere? That’s the biggest struggle.

For you, Safeway, Albertsons, or the Piggly Wiggly for those of you in the south, might be your grocery store. But for military brats, active or retired, our grocery store will always be the commissary. Unless you’re like me and the closest military base is 4 hours away (but that’s because I live in Montana).

(http://militaryshoppers.com/category/on-sale-this-week/)

Time management was always important. I can’t ever be late for anything and if I am right on time my stomach is in knots in fear that I missed something.

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You know military time like the back of your hand. Zero-dark-thirty and 1700 aren't just movie titles or a number, but times for us.

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Your abc’s aren’t from Sesame Street. A isn’t for apple. It’s alpha. Then bravo, charlie, delta, echo, and blah blah blah.

(https://www.instagram.com/1canoe2/)

Even with all the moving, and having to explain to your friends what everything is, I wouldn’t want my life to be any other way. My mom was in the Navy for five years and my sister graduated from Gonzaga in 2015 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army. You can say my family is pretty tough. So if being a brat means that I move a lot, know obscure military things, and have the greatest, smartest, and bravest dad in the world, then go for it and call me a brat.