Military brat

April is the month of the military child.

Parents often worry that they didn't make the right decisions for their children, that they let their lives get in  the way of their child's. They often try to either change those decisions, their whole lives to make a "suitable" and "normal" life for their kids. However, sometimes they can't. This results in people's pity, which is not so much pity as a subtle way to insult and sneer and give unwanted advice to grown men and women. As a child raised in a constantly moving, military, catholic, homeschooled home, I have become accustomed to people's pity. I've been asked the questions they try to veil in innocent curiosity, but are really meant to evaluate me, and make sure I am "adjusted" and not being tortured by the irregular life that I ended up with.

When I was younger and realized that my life was different from normal kids, it honestly was difficult at times. Being uprooted, making new friends, Dad being gone, family being far away, settling in just to leave again, being DIFFERENT. Its hard at 8 years old to understand that you're leaving your home and your friends to go somewhere new, somewhere foreign. Yet you do. Sometimes, this was a blessing. As I got older, I became less "different" and more "special".

My years as a military brat gave me adventures I will always have. They made me who I am today, and taught me more than I would have learned if I had had a "normal" life. I don't feel like I haven't adjusted to society, like I'm a freak of nature just because I haven't had my friends here since 1st grade. I don't feel like I don't have a home after being constantly uprooted. Home is where the heart is. Its where my family lives, where my bed is, wherever I can smile and laugh and be happy. Because of the moving, I learned how to make good friends quickly. So there's another issue taken care of. I never had to change schools because of the homeschooling, and because of the homeschooling I never lacked for friends or social skills.

I'm a well adjusted social teenager whose going places and accomplishing things, and I was a military brat. So before you go and pity those poor military families, realize that we are strong because of this, and thats a strength you can learn no where else.

Semper Fi.