As readers of this blog know, we often get in the car at the spur of the moment and wander off into the Hill Country. During our first eight months here in Texas, we visited Boerne, Bandera, Medina, Comfort, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Gruene, Castroville, Seguin, and Austin. However, we haven’t been doing as many of these mini-road trips lately. The other night I started wondering why.
I realized that things started to change about a month ago. I hosted a playdate at our house. We were invited to a Super Bowl party. I took E. to storytime at the library. I started working-out more often. In other words, we started living here instead of behaving like tourists.
This makes me feel both content and slightly sad. I’m glad that we finally feel like we are residents of San Antonio, have made friends, and have found activities to get involved in. On the other hand, I miss the days when visiting a small town in the Texas countryside seemed like more of an adventure.
But when I really think about it, I have no reason to feel sad. We love where we live, which is something not everyone in the military can say. Unlike many civilian families, we don’t get to choose where we end up. The fact that we like it here so much means we’re pretty fortunate.
Living the military life also means that we probably won’t be here for an extended period of time. Eventually, we’ll move on. There will be new places to see, new friends to meet and, once again, we’ll feel like tourists on a grand adventure.
I can totally relate to that feeling of sadness that one portion of your life is over, even while you know it is being replaced with a new, different kind of adventure. About a week after the hubs & I got married, oh-nearly-nine-years-ago, I remember crying to my new mate that all of the fun was over. I had nothing to plan. No florists to meet with. No favors to assemble in the evenings. No seating chart to obsess over. He said something like, "But there'll be a house to hunt for, and babies to care for, and birthdays to celebrate. The fun's just begun!" He was so right! But sometimes it's hard to move from one phase to the next. At age two my son is moving from baby/toddlerhood into boyhood and my five-year-old is seeming less and less like a little kid and more like big girl…It makes me feel a little weepy and a little excited all at once.
Thanks Colleen! Glad I'm not the only one who needs a little time to get used to big life changes.For me, I think I've become addicted to moving! (This might need to be a new blog post!) I've moved 7 times in the last 12 years…and that isn't counting in-town moves. I love feeling like I'm in a new place, and when that feeling wears off, I start wondering where we'll end up next.