The Perks of Being a Military Child

My father joined the U.S. Air Force in the year 2000, the same year I was born. Part of my dad’s job was moving every three or four years, when I was younger I didn’t really understand why we had to move I just went along with it up until I was in the third grade. I came home from school and my parents broke the news to my brother and I that we would soon be moving to a place called Belgium. As a third grader with minimal geographic knowledge, I was immediately upset. I didn’t want to leave my friends and home of four years to go to a place I didn’t even know existed. As the summer flew by I was soon saying goodbye to my friends and family members until finally my family and I were boarding the plane to fly 8 hours from the Chicago airport to Brussels, Belgium. Being in a foreign country was difficult and scary, stores close on Sundays and there are roundabouts everywhere, but I persevered. I began to fall in love with the landscapes and narrow roads, I found myself visiting castles on the weekends and going to the Louvre in Paris on a school field trip. When fifth grade came around I’d finally felt comfortable in this new place, I felt it was my home, then my parents once again broke the moving news, but this time we were moving three hours away to a place in Germany we had been before. 

Sixth to ninth grade I lived in Germany and it was amazing. I was heavily influenced by the culture around me, I was taking trains with my friends to go to festivals, I fell in love all over again. I had so many amazing opportunities to see Europe and I definitely took advantage of them. I’ve been to more countries than I have states, I’m an expert public commuter, and I met some of the best people in the world. I traveled everywhere I could and wanted to take in every bit of each city and country, I saw monuments and buildings that are in history books. I learned so much I could write a book about it, and no matter where I went or what I experienced I always came home to Germany. Life was great up until my parents broke the news for the final time, except now I was devastated. I had to leave my best friends but I also had to leave my favorite place, my home, and my life wouldn’t be the same. The narrow roads and stunning landscapes were now an ocean away, I found myself immersed in four lane highways and stop lights, my festivals were now fairs, and stores are open on Sundays. I miss biking in the forest and listening to church bells ring every hour, I miss the experiences I had. I carry with me a million memories of places some people never get to see, sure I’ve endured lots of pain and heartbreak but I wouldn’t trade it for anything, being a military child taught me that home is where your heart is.