That Down Home Feeling

That Down Home Feeling- 07/13/11

Posting season. This is the time of the year that every military family either dreads or hopes for. Either way, it brings a bittersweet feeling to us all. It reminds us that we live the lives of transient nomads, moving from place to place every few years and essentially starting over everywhere we go. While moving around is exciting and exhilarating, we still need to remember where we really come from.

My husband and I were recently on vacation in New Brunswick, where I grew up. I don't go home often, as airline prices are pretty ridiculous, but this year a trip home was needed. We've had a lot of ups and downs over the last couple of years, between two tours, me being sick for a few months, the crash and my stepmother passing away. The last time I was actually home for a visit was when I went back last March to say my goodbyes. So this year, with another tour and a helicopter crash, I really started to feel something pulling me back home. I was willing to go on my own but I really felt it was time that my husband get the chance to meet the family members he didn't meet at our wedding.
Flying into Moncton always gives me a sense of nostalgia. This time was no exception. I was sitting in the window seat on the plane and looked out the window when the pilot announced we were starting our descent. When I saw the green trees and the dark brown of the Peticodiac River I felt my eyes well up (and laughed at myself for crying over some trees) and it felt great to be home. We were in New Brunswick for about a week and it was a week filled with family and friends. There's something to be said about getting hugs from your parents and grandparents in the same day, and getting to see long lost uncles, aunts and cousins. It was such a incredible time. We did all the tourist stuff, visited with friends and family and got to enjoy a vacation together, which was really important after the year we've had.

Being away from home for so long makes it pretty easy to forget where you come from. The place you live in becomes home in so many ways and, in our case, the place you're from ends up being too far away to visit often. Going home this summer, getting to see family, friends and getting some sense of closure on a difficult family event, meant the world to me and reminded me a bit more of who I am and where I come from. I was something I had forgotten while being away for so long and am happy to be reminded of it.