Just 32 short years ago, I was finishing up my 6-year enlistment. I couldn’t WAIT to get out! I was ready to break out of my shackles and take on all the vast opportunities that this big world had to offer. I thought I would never set foot on a military base again but it’s funny how life works. As the mom of two young adult daughters, I have long had a dream of taking them back to the place where it all ended for me. I wanted them to see the place ”that will live in infamy”…a place that became grander in my mind with each passing year that I didn’t return. The very gates that I begrudgingly crossed each day for years had become inaccessible to me. Finally, with the help of a friend and no less than a half dozen phone calls to coordinate, I was able to infiltrate the secure fortress where I had once roamed freely. It was both magical and disappointing at the same time. Magical because I got to relive a piece of my youth and disappointing because I had to face the fact that nothing stays the same. Back then, I was a member of a team but now I was an outsider just trying to relive a part of her past. On my stroll down memory lane, below is what I learned and hope to impart to my daughters:
Continue reading “Lessons From A Veteran-You Can Never Go Home Again (Or Can You?)”
