Things change. People change. Situations change. Change is something I was never really good at dealing with until I had no choice but to deal with it. I was so excited and ready for our first military move but it seemed to lose it’s luster quickly. The move I was excited for was no longer as exciting when I realized my husband would be deploying a few weeks later. I realized that I didn’t know anyone, things were different, places were different, and I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to call it home. But then he came home and we started to make a life there together. We came to love it. We found our favorite places, made our own little rituals and made friends that turned into family. When it came time to move again, we were so excited. And although we knew we would miss the things and people we loved there, we couldn’t wait for the next adventure.
When we first got to the south, I was excited. It was December and it felt like fall. Glorious! We were enjoying the outdoors while everyone else was still under 4 feet of snow and we loved exploring our new city. Again, I started to feel the same feelings I felt when the dust had settled in New York. It was hot, I hated the house we were given and it was proving even harder to make friends this go around. I forgot how much work it takes to start over and how disappointing it can be for a few months. Like clockwork, my husband received orders to deploy a few months later. I was already lonely and now he was leaving again. What would happen? I took a job, I started hanging out with new friends and I tried so hard to make the most of the situation. If you tell you’re self you’re happy, you’ll start to believe it, right? I would tackle this deployment head on and although it would be hard, we would get through it.
It was hard. I won’t say it was easier or harder than the first because both deployments were different and had their unique challenges. But I was struggling to take care of the kids, pets, house, and life while working part-time outside the home. So as much as I didn’t want to, I quit my job. Things started to go down hill there anyways so I didn’t mind; my kids needed me and quite frankly, I needed to work on myself. To our surprise, my husband was able to come home way earlier than expected and things started looking up. We bought a house, we met a great group of friends that turned into family and we started to make our own lives and create a new “home.”
But things never last in the military. At some point, when you’re finally comfortable and starting to love the life you’ve built, it’s time for the changes you’ve embraced to change again. And that’s where we are now.
I love our city. It feels like small town USA but has everything we need to make it work for us. We have great friends, a routine, a wonderful school, and activities for the kids. I love the historic part of town and I love the new parts. I love our house and how we’ve made it into a home. It makes me really sad to think about leaving for so many reasons, but mostly because of the life we’ve built. Our Sunday mornings at the playground with donuts. Walks along the river while the kids run and laugh and play. Lunch at our favorite spots. Market Days on Saturdays. There are so many little things, unique things that I’ll miss. And things I never even appreciated until I thought about leaving.
I know we will find new and exciting things at our next duty station and we will adjust because we have to. And as long as we have each other, we will find ways to make new memories. But now that we’ve finally embraced the last change 110%, it’s almost time for things to change again. Funny how that works, huh?
But I guess it’s part of the adventure. I consider myself so lucky to get to see and live in so many different places. And although it’s not always the easiest thing to do, we don’t have a choice at this point in our lives. When will our next adventure begin? Where will our next adventure be? I’m not sure. But we’ll be sure to make the most of it and embrace the change.
