Audrey
Ryukyu Middle School
In my 12 years of living, I have moved 5 different times and lived in 5 different places. I was born in Tucson, Arizona, and moved to Valdosta, Georgia, when I was about 6 months old. My little sister Felicity was born there, 14 months after me. After living in Georgia for 3 years, we received some exciting news. We were moving to Okinawa, Japan! Felicity and I were so excited! We moved there and went to the beach almost every day. It was awesome! We also went to a fun Japanese preschool. When we had lived there for a year, my little brother Douglas was born. He was a 3rd(Douglas Jackson Dashiell III), so we called him Tripp and we still do. Halfway through 1st grade, COVID-19 happened. School let out, and we learned on the computer and watched videos our teachers sent us. We moved that summer to Montgomery, Alabama, and I went to a private school off base. I didn't like it very much, probably because we had to wear uniforms! I say that Montgomery is the least favorite place I've lived, but maybe it was because I only lived there for 10 months. I also decided at that location that I enjoyed living on-base better because then my friends understood when I had to move. My mom went to San Antonio, Texas, with Tripp because she was pregnant with my other brother. She left Felicity and me with my dad in a TLF(Temporary Living Facility), so we could finish the school year. Then, on the last day of school, my dad came to pick us up, and we drove straight to San Antonio, where we lived on Randolph Air Force Base. It was the first time I had ever lived in a two-story house, and I was so excited! After we'd lived there for about a month, my mom had Patrick, my last little brother. I was 8 years old. I met my favorite friends while I was there. We called ourselves the Friend Group, and we consisted of 6 boys and 3 girls, my sister, me, and our very best friend. Almost every day, we played gaga ball on the trampoline. 2 years later, we all started to move. I moved back to Okinawa, my best friend moved to Cibolo, some of my friends moved to Colorado, and the others moved to Cibolo as well. My family had a 4-year assignment in Okinawa. I was going to be 14 when we moved! I started at Bob Hope Elementary School for 5th grade, where I met more amazing friends! We then started middle school together at Ryukyu Middle School, although one of my friends had to move. Luckily, I got even more friends in middle school, and right now we are wearing matching outfits. I am now 12 years old, still in Okinawa, and my mom is going to have another girl! In all, being a military child is crazy and can be unforgiving. Fortunately, I love it and wouldn't give it up if I had the chance. I find it so exciting to move to new places every couple of years! One thing that was hard as a military child was getting my first dog. We had always had cats because my parents said dogs were too hard to move everywhere. Eventually, after lots of peaceful protests and sticking notes in their rooms, we got a female Golden Retriever puppy whom my sister and I worship. I hope my dad stays in the military until I go to college, because while I miss him tons when he's away on TDY(Temporary Duty) or deployments, I love thinking about where I might move next and who I might meet.