“We’re moving again!"
As a military brat, I heard this more than the average child did when they were young and growing up. Another state, another base, our timelines do not consist of years and dates, but rather location and area of where we were. Military brats learn to be mobile as we were constantly on the move, and take in everything at every place. They’re also some of the most friendly people you’d ever meet, a lot of the respect and kindness can be stemmed to our parents, but we also have encountered numerous people of different statures across the world and that widens our horizons of how human interaction should be.
Along with the constant relocating my parents were also always on their own sort of adventure by going on multiple deployments, there was even a point where my father and mother were both deployed at the same time, which led to my grandmother coming down to live with us. I thought a lot of this was so difficult and horrible until I got a chance to peek at the bright side of things; I was getting to take a life long adventure, an adventure that my parents and the Air Force were leading me on.
It all started in Florida, the sandy shores, tropical climate, fresh seafood, sunshine, and some of the best weather a human could ask for. Our next stop was to the west in Utah, no humidity, salt flats, bison, the world’s best snow, snowboarding, and last but not least, Rocky Mountain Oysters. The final stop was in Illinois, which entails horseshoes, beautiful skies, and all the hospitality the midwest brings. But this wasn’t even the best part of everything, my absolute favorite was watching my dad take these deployments, and then him telling me the stories once he got home which allowed me to re-live the trip through his eyes. I may have never been to Peru but I can tell you how beautiful Machu Picchu was, and I have never taken a trip to Korea, but I could tell you some stories about what happens after dark!
With the above being said, my adventure has recently come to a stop, as my father has recently retired and is currently working on growing his beard in the resemblance of a lumberjack, and my mother only has a short period until she will be retired as well. I’m sure all older military brats can relate, I am 21 years old now, and am about to graduate college, and the way I see it, It is time for me to start an adventure of my own, an adventure where I am the leader and I get to depict what happens. It is definitely bittersweet, but it’s time to grow some wings of my own and it more exciting nonetheless!
The friends and family I have gotten the opportunity to meet due to this are nothing I could ever forget. If I have one piece of advice for younger military brats who are having a hard time; Be open to anything, and realize everyone’s adventure is completely different than one another and you need to enjoy your own to the maximum, because before you know it, the ride is over and you’ll be spreading your own wings! Unless you have lived it, you just won't get it!A huge thank you goes to my parents for everything you've done for me and I cannot thank you guys enough!
