2023/Celina -21428

I grabbed my poster board and colored pencils. After 128 days, six long months, the moment had finally come. I started to write the letters "Welcome Home" on a poster board with my siblings. I'm was so excited, I could barely contain myself. My dad had finally returned home.

I imagined there would be no more missed holidays and birthdays. I had not realized that this was only the beginning, and more deployments were coming. However, the accomplishments my father has been through have made me forget about this seemingly endless battle of separation and have brought me to enjoy every moment with him.

These deployments happened when I was in elementary school. I remember my dad’s picture being taped to his chair at the dinner table and going to a deployment group with a stuffed bear dressed in camouflage. As the years went on it became easier, deployments turned into two week temporary duty travels.

I have begun to love the life of a military child. I get to experience new places and new cultures, new stories, and new friends. I love it. I got to live on three continents by age fifteen. I grew up with so many different cultures and so much diversity. I have gained an open mind and a different way of thinking. It was not all perfect; my first move was the hardest. I lived in Germany for 13 years, and I had to move to the United States for the first time. I was leaving the place I grew up in and all my family members. I had to make new friends and leave my old ones. But, as time went on things got easier. Next I moved to Okinawa, and I love it. Germany, the US, and Japan all have many differences, but I loved living in all these places. I loved all my new friends and the new area I was surrounded by. Although I never wanted to move, I'm glad I did.