Moving: The Hustle and Bustle of a Military Family’s Life

“How do you do it, how do you deal with the changes?”  A friend asked me once in regards to being a military family and the upheaval that comes with this lifestyle. It’s a bit of a silly question because the answer is simple: You do it because it’s part of the deal. If you choose this life, you choose the challenges that come with it. Being in the military myself probably gave me a healthy lesson in adaptability (semper gumby as the cliché goes) going into this but there are certain things that you have to accept will never get easier. Like when the news comes that Stephen’s training schedule has changed and he has to leave on sudden notice and we can’t go with him. Basically we are going to be in “deployment mindset” until we can all be reunited in Corpus Christi in May. Only a few weeks shy of the baby’s due date.

Strangely after the initial shock I find myself now feeling like I can handle it. Denial? Maybe but I genuinely feel everything will move along smoothly (and it helps to be positive!).

In the mean time I am slowly taking pictures off the walls, deciding what will go to storage and what will go in a suitcase. I’m organizing donation piles/garage sale items. It’s kind of a bittersweet process. For as much as this old house has given me headaches, we’ve made some sweet friends living here and it was the home where our family first started.

How do you do it, how do you deal with the changes?

On second thought maybe the answer isn’t just you get used to it. Maybe part of dealing with the surprises is looking forward to not just new places but new experiences, new happy memories. For all its challenges, this life is unique. It tests our bonds and strengthens them.

I take the art work made by tiny hands down from the fridge and remind myself of this one simple truth: A house is just four walls, a roof and a few empty rooms. A home, however, can be built anywhere that love exists.