Millions of people have grown up in military families, and I am proud to say I am one of those lucky people. We are also called "military brats." It is not an insult as one might think, but rather a badge of honor because we belong to a special group of people who sacrificed everything to protect our country.
My father, Matt Clark, was 18 years old when he decided to join the Navy. As a teenager, he never knew what he wanted to do in life, so he got up one day, went to the recruiting station and told them he wanted to serve in the military. Throughout the 23 and a half years he served, he traveled to many countries and moved around the United States. He went on multiple deployments throughout his career and we moved around the country. It wasn't until I came to college when I realized growing up in a military family is a special thing.
Home is where the heart takes you? More like home is where the Navy takes you. When you live in a military family, you move around A LOT. You could be living at the beach one day and living in the mountains the next. You could live in one city for years, or you could live there for weeks. I was born in Florida and I only lived there for three years, then we moved to Washington State, where we lived on base there for another three years. After that, we were given orders to move to Virginia Beach, Virginia. We lived there for 11 years. Now, my family lives in Tennessee. I was one of the few fortunate military brats that didn't have to move a lot, but when we did move, it was hard to leave everything and everyone behind and start over again.
Saying goodbye to your parent(s) as they leave for deployment is one of the hardest things you can do, especially when you're a young child. There are two different types of duties in the Navy: shore duty and sea duty. Sea duty is (basically) when the sailor spends a certain amount of time on a ship or overseas or doing something not in an office or land, technically. Shore duty is when a sailor has different assigned jobs on base while not being on a ship or out to sea.
When your parent is on sea duty and they leave for deployment, it can be full of worries, sadness, and pure heartache. You never know if they will make it back alive or in one piece, and as a child, that can be one of the scariest things to think about. It didn't matter where my dad went for his deployments, I was scared everyday that he was gone. Another problem with a parent being on deployment is they may miss birthdays and holidays. My dad missed a majority of my birthdays when I was young (don't worry, dad, I forgive you), but he always sent me a card or an e-mail, or something more special like a bear and flowers. It was sad not being able to celebrate things while he was gone, but it is one of those sacrifices you have to make as a military child.
The list can go on forever about the negatives of living in a military family, but there are also some really awesome things about being a military brat, such as becoming strong and independent, visiting new places, meeting new people, and having a story to tell people.
The military teaches you to be strong and independent at such a young age. When your parent is gone all the time for a long period of time, you have to learn to control your emotions. It is extremely hard when your parent leaves, but you have to realize that that is their job. No matter how hard it gets, you have to keep your brave and happy face on. You also have to learn to do things on your own. When you lack one or both parents, you have to learn things on your own sometimes and do things alone.
Moving around a lot can be stressful, but it can bring the military child new and wonderful opportunities a lot of children and people in general do not get to experience. You get to meet all types of people and make new friends, and sometimes if you're really lucky, you will stay friends with them even when you move away. One of my childhood best friends, Cheenee, is a Navy brat who moved away to another country in elementary school, but we still talk to this day, and I am really thankful for that because it is hard to keep in touch when you are in different states or countries. You also get to visit new places and see the beauty in everything. Without the military, I would never have been able to travel across the country and live in the most beautiful places.
Finally, as tough as growing up in a military family may be at times, you will always have a story to tell. You get to share your experiences with new people in new places and you always have something to be proud of.
