NL Belron Column Writer
Being an Army brat is tough. You move a lot, it’s inevitable because that’s what your parents do. They go overseas and that’s hard because sometimes they have to miss Thanksgiving, Christmas, or your birthday. And sometimes they’re gone for so long, they miss all of it. But the older you get, the easier it gets because you learn how to deal with it.
Being an Army brat is not all bad. You’re taught to say “yes ma’am” and “yes sir”, so adults usually like you because you’re polite. When you move to different schools, most of the kids think it’s cool that you’ve lived in so many different places because they have probably lived in the same house, gone to the same school, and grown up with the same people.
But, after moving so much, you wish you’ve lived in the same house, gone to the same school, and grown up with the same people; because being the new kid every couple of years becomes exhausting. Packing and unpacking all of your belongings is a pain and takes forever. Not to mention the movers really don’t care if they break your stuff.
You also grow attached to a certain area that you live in, you like the house you live in, and you like the friends you’ve made. So, moving away can sometimes be painful because you know how hard it is to keep in touch. They have a life and so do you and the longer you’re away from them you realize you don’t have as much in common with them as you used to, and that hurts.
But, sometimes when you move, you meet a fellow Army brat. And that’s the best because you have someone who can relate to you and understands what you’re going through. You can trade stories and talk about the cool places you’ve lived, different people you’ve met, and use words like civilians, base, the box, and deployed and have them know exactly what you mean.
So, even though it’s tough, it can also be fun depending on how you look at it.