This Old House
Time and again I've noticed that if there is one thing civilian people are fascinated by, it is the idea of living in military housing.
My non-military friends are always asking me what it is like. They want to see my house. They want to know how the finances work. They want to know if I love living in a base community.
But I’m not sure how to explain what it is like to live on base. A friend of mine visited me last year and said that it was like I lived on Wisteria Lane. I guess to an outsider that might be true. The pastel-hued houses do sort of give that impression. And it might seem like we’re all up in each other’s business.
But to me it is just home. It is a neighborhood where I feel very safe. It is a wonderful place to raise children surrounded by other families who know what it is like to live this life. It was an especially good place to be in those hard days after September 11, 2001.
Every time my husband deploys overseas I hang my Blue Star flag in my window. It is my little way to say to my neighbors, “Yes, we’re all in this together.”
I love my house. I've seen many a plaque hanging in military families’ homes that read, “Home is where the military sends us!” And it is true. My home is wherever my family happens to be. And my family happens to be wherever the Air Force tells us we’ll be. But this particular house is pretty cool. I am thankful for it.
Though, imagine just for a moment that you must keep your house respectfully clean just about all the time because almost everyone who comes by wants a tour. And then imagine the kinds of pests that can crawl and fly into a sixty-plus-year-old home. And then think of the plumbing problems.
I've long since stopped noticing the noise of jets warming up. I've even gotten used to the smell of jet fuel. To me and my kids, these are the sounds and smells of home. This old house is the only home my kids have ever known. I will always treasure it for the wonderful memories it houses.
My non-military friends are always asking me what it is like. They want to see my house. They want to know how the finances work. They want to know if I love living in a base community.
But I’m not sure how to explain what it is like to live on base. A friend of mine visited me last year and said that it was like I lived on Wisteria Lane. I guess to an outsider that might be true. The pastel-hued houses do sort of give that impression. And it might seem like we’re all up in each other’s business.
But to me it is just home. It is a neighborhood where I feel very safe. It is a wonderful place to raise children surrounded by other families who know what it is like to live this life. It was an especially good place to be in those hard days after September 11, 2001.
Every time my husband deploys overseas I hang my Blue Star flag in my window. It is my little way to say to my neighbors, “Yes, we’re all in this together.”
I love my house. I've seen many a plaque hanging in military families’ homes that read, “Home is where the military sends us!” And it is true. My home is wherever my family happens to be. And my family happens to be wherever the Air Force tells us we’ll be. But this particular house is pretty cool. I am thankful for it.
Though, imagine just for a moment that you must keep your house respectfully clean just about all the time because almost everyone who comes by wants a tour. And then imagine the kinds of pests that can crawl and fly into a sixty-plus-year-old home. And then think of the plumbing problems.
I've long since stopped noticing the noise of jets warming up. I've even gotten used to the smell of jet fuel. To me and my kids, these are the sounds and smells of home. This old house is the only home my kids have ever known. I will always treasure it for the wonderful memories it houses.
posted by Major Mom at 10:50 AM
Karen is a military wife and stay-at-home mother to a seven-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son. A Boston native who’s lived in the Shreveport-Bossier area for eight years, she spends most of her time volunteering at her kids’ school, supporting her husband, playing with her friends and watching her hair turn gray. In between, she writes about her life here on her blog.
2 Comments:
Um, I don't suppose you'd consider posting pictures of your neighborhood? I must be getting old... sixty plus house sounds young but then our Highland house was but around 1922.
Wisteria Lane? hahaha! I always have civilians asking me about it also.
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