Things That Happen To Me
I’m trying to make this interesting….just fall asleep if it’s mind numbing
Block leave is comin up and everyone’s gettin ready to roll home for a few weeks to see the fam’s…must be nice. I ain’t complainin though, I got a plane ticket to go see some people this Thanksgiving so I’m set. It may only be a few day’s, but any time home is worth it.
Today we’re going to talk about Ohana…Ohana means family…family means noone gets left behind…and I appreciate mine although I may not show it all the time. I find distance makes it easier to maintain a bond with the family. Like the saying goes…fences make good neighbors, so time apart makes families stronger. Well, it does for me anyway. I think it has to do more with building up your gratitude and thankfullness for your fam. I’ll admit I had my family problems when I was in high school, and I still get into some arguements with the siblings, but I’ve never really lost any appreciation for them. I just need time away. But there’s a downside that I think I’m starting to develop.
I’m so used to being away that when I’m there, I can only take so much before I get aggitated by the hectic family life. Can’t handle it? Possible…but it’s just something I’m not too accustomed to anymore. I’m used to having a pretty decent sense of independance….(funny considering I’m in the military). We just have a different family here, and I see the nuclear fam so rarely that it’s now, outside the norm. I never thought I would lose much from the civilian life when I joined, but to actually have lost the feel for your own family? That sucks. Something I’m working on, just send a couple prayers my way and I’ll be good.
That worked out rather well….I just started typing and that came about, maybe I should do this more often.
Funny thing! As I’m reading this post, I’m sitting in a big old house all by myself, wondering where the ‘hectic’ family life’ is!!!! I’m afraid you’ll find that home is not so hectic anymore. Everybody’s going in different directions….work and school. Nobody here but Mom. Can you handle that?
This sort of thing is normal. Just take the bad with the good. No matter what, your family will be there for you.
I can relate that trying to keep up with everything in the familiy life is hard sometimes. You just seem so busy and you are. However, don’t let it get you down. Don’t feel like you are doing anything wrong.
It’s the best way I can convey it in this method, if we were in person I’d just punch you in the arm and tell you it’s goin to be all right.
Mom - It’s only gotten that way while I’ve been gone. And when I do come home, everyone’s back together again.
AS - Sometimes I think I need that punch more than words.
SF, the Lilo & Stitch reference did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
And I know what you mean. It seems like there’s always that homesick feeling, but it’s hard to conjure back up those feelings in the midst of the deafening chaos. Same here, same here. Coming home from college sometimes has the same effect. That’s one reason I’m almost dreading Thanksgiving, despite the fact that it’s one of my favorite holidays because everybody comes “home”.
Yeah, you do need that punch more than words.
Sure Fire, it’s called growing up. It has nothing to do with you being in the military, but everything to do with you leaving home and becoming independant. It happens to all of us. And the feeling is mutual. While I am counting the days until I see my young soldier again, I know that 3 days after he gets here, I will be ready for him to leave again. When I first left home, I tried going back once, but it didn’t work. I was different and they were different. That’s all there was to it. You still love your family and all but it’s very different.
SF,
Like stoicmom says, the feelings you have are more about maturing and becoming independent than about being in the military. It happens to everyone. As you grow up, you continue to love your family, but getting them in small doses actually seems to keep the bonds stronger.