My reflections while on the train back to the military base in Germany I call home.
You open your eyes. Out the window of the train you see gleaming cities in the sunlight, sunflower fields stretching into the horizon. Glassy lakes and mountains extending into the clouds. Sights that knock the air out of your lungs and make you remember why you’re on the train in the first place. There are…
When people think about Edinburgh, they think about the historic architecture, the cobblestone roads, and the haunted legends. Personally, I think about how many Innis & Gunn beers I drank at the Black Bull in Grassmarket. I also think about how I had to explore this iconic city with virtually no funds – due to…
Read more how I saw the best of edinburgh for free (and you can too)
It was my favorite night of the year. As my mother had me turn off the lights, she lit every single candle we owned and arranged them in our family room. In my mind, it felt like hundreds of tiny flames that patiently waited a full year to come back to life. On a typical…
This question proved to be harder to answer than a simple yes or no, as most questions are. I suppose we should start at the beginning. After a stressful rearranging of flights, I landed in my favorite city late at night, the place I have been living in my mind for over a year, Edinburgh.…
Read more should you return to a place you once loved? // part 2
To me, memories exist as a warm, blurry, slow-motion filmstrip. They live and breathe in the past, but I find it difficult to leave them in that spot, often remembering and comparing to my current life. I live in a constant state of nostalgia. I did this a lot – too much – during my…
Read more should you return to a place you once loved? // part I
J and I sat in our small car while driving back to base, over hills and valleys, an expanse of fielded German landscape surrounding us when he said something that stood out to me. We had just driven to a nearby town to buy a crockpot and coffee maker from another military family who was…
As a fourth grade teacher last year, we read the book Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech in my classroom. If you’re in my age bracket, I can guarantee that you’ve read it as a ten-year-old. As I read the book aloud to a new generation of ten-year-olds, they grasped onto one of the main…
With this in mind, I realize that the majority of the population doesn’t know what it’s like to live on a military base, especially as an “SP” (spouse). Learning the lingo is an entirely different thing altogether, which I don’t think I will ever fully grasp. There are abbreviations for everything. Seriously, everything. CAC, SOFA,…
I remember the very first night in my apartment. Exactly one year ago, a small but bustling city, a fourth floor apartment with no elevator. It was a tiny place just for me, with almost nothing in it but an air mattress and an ugly brown bean bag chair. I remember sitting on the bean…
