Here’s the thing about being in the military: Moving is part of your life. Every few years, you will gather up all your belongings and your family, and you will move to a new town, a new province, and a new job. It’s scary but it’s also exciting. The thing about constantly moving is that it teaches you that this is “normal”. You develop itchy feet after a few years in the same place and you don’t know how to remain static. What’s funny is that in my 4 1/2 years in Kingston, I’ve already lived in three different houses. Sigh…even when given the option to stay in the same place, I keep choosing to leave! But now I find I have developed the signature “itchy feet”. I need to move before I get too scared to leave. I’ve also been lucky to always live close to my parents but next summer, I know I will be posted out of the province to an Air Base and I’m nervous. Nervous, but I know it’s time. But in hindsight, now that I know I’m leaving, I’m desperately trying to enjoy all that Kingston has to offer. It is my last summer here and the season is almost over and I’m emotional over the whole thing. I want to take the ferry back and forth to Wolfe Island. I want to go to the wineries and craft festivals. I want to eat in all the great ethnic restaurants. I want to visit the lakes. Hike in Frotenac Park. Walk in Lemoine Point with Duncan. It all feels like it’s happening for the last time. I’m so nostalgic, it’s almost funny. To make matters worse, the odds of Ben and I being posted together are slim to none because he is Army and I’m Air Force. So we know we will come home to each other for a few months and then we will move away from each other again, each with separate houses and separate lives…all while trying to find a way to mix them together. It’s a bizarre concept to most civilian people. My friends say, “Well HOW can they make you live apart?” The thing is, we sign on knowing this is a possibility. I know that there are jobs that need to be filled in certain places and that my relationship will usually come second to getting the job done but that is life in the military. If you aren’t prepared to be away from the people you love, do NOT join the Forces. But it also teaches us to be excellent communicators. We email. We write. We have web chats. Ben sends me a letter every week. You make it work. And then you get excited to see each other every month or so. We’ll keep in mind that it will just be for a few years and that’s what always makes it easier. Just a few years before you’re moving again and the cycle starts over. So in the meantime, I’m trying to enjoy this summer with my friends because I know these lazy summer days will whip by all too quickly. And then I’ll be left in the house, packing up my boxes, wishing I had seen all the Kingston had to offer me while I had the time. Kelly
FILED UNDER: under-fire
