2024/Leland-

Life as a military child is rough because you have to move a lot and go places. Another difficult aspect as a military child is that sometimes your mom or dad must deploy, or go to work. Sometimes, even getting deployed to conflict.

We move to an area where we settle, spend time with family, and make new friends. After every three years we need to give up that lifestyle, move to a new location and start all over again. Sometimes we need to say goodbye to family and friends, sometimes even pets, which makes me frustrated and sad. I often wonder, ‘why do we have to move so much?’ It’s difficult to maintain my long-distance friendships when we are in a different time zone.

There are benefits of moving. The first reason is because you get to make new friends. The second reason is that you get to start fresh and make new memories. The third reason is that you may have the opportunity to go to a different continent altogether.

Saying goodbye to family and friends is one of the hardest things for me. Also, another thing that is hard for me is that when your family member visits it's hard to say goodbye when they leave. In total, I've moved more than five times. Which is crazy, in my opinion. Many families have not moved that much, but it is guaranteed for the life of a military child.