2023/Nathan-22993

The day I realized how different my military life is from other kids was the day I became one. My dad was in the military before I was born but left after serving multiple years. Later when I was 10 he decided to rejoin as a chaplain. This was a big change for my family but we supported it and moved along with it.

Having to move from a place I had lived for 6 years to a place 1000 miles away showed me everything I needed to know. I went from the kid who lived in the same place and did not know about military life to a brat like my parents were when they were my age. I have known kids who have no clue what it is like and kids who know nothing else and do not know what it is like to be either. I have already learned much of the military child life being overseas on only my second tour.

Being locked at home during our first tour due to quarantine really made me feel the same as before, Dad’s on shore duty and not deploying, I was still talking to all my old friends, it really had not sunk in yet. That most definitely changed when I moved the second time to Japan. I was honestly just starting to like where I was living since I had not been able to get used to it before the virus and then I had to move to a new continent. It was a big change I was not really ready for.

Life on both sides has many pros and cons, like on one hand you get longer lasting relationships and maybe live in the same place your whole life but then on the other you meet people who have had extremely similar experiences to you and are used to having to meet new people and make new connections quite often. You also get to see many different places.