ChristianMilitaryWives

Memories and some quiet time Lately I have been reflecting on the places I have lived over the last ten years. Being a military wife could sometimes be equated, in the humorous sense, to that of a bedouin. Thankfully the Navy chooses to move us via large trucks and airplanes as opposed to camels and walking, however the constant change in scenery and living arrangements is one in the same. Before I left home, I had never really traveled further than the Gulf Coast. Little did I know that my travels would take me all over this country and others. It's funny how the things that seemed so trivial, so routine when we were young, become almost sacred the older we get. Take for instance the cup of coffee in the South. Every morning my grandparents would sit on the front porch and drink coffee together. When I was older and lucky enough, they let me join in. It became a morning ritual, like having ice cream with your apple pie or something. Little did I know how many other routines and traditions I would pick up as I moved. When I met my mother in law, Colleen, I could instantly tell there were things that were going to be different about living in the Pacific Northwest. For instance, her first visit to me in South Mississippi, she attempted to order hot tea at a McDonald's drive thru. I say attempted because the drive thru attendent looked at her as if she were from outerspace and said "Well I think we still have some that is just now brewing. It hasn't exactly had time to cool. Would you like that sweet or unsweet?" Colleen didn't exactly know what to say and neither did I. I had never seen anyone order hot tea at a drive thru. Colleen, being the trooper that she is, simply smiled and said "Hmmm I guess I'll just have some hot water" She proceeded to pull out a bag of single tea bags from her overnight bag and made her own hot tea right there in the parking lot. I had never even had hot tea before, well maybe like the attendent said before it cooled, but certainly never like this. Little did I know that it would later become a ritual as well. I was sitting on my back porch tonight with my cup of hot peppermint tea, the wind blowing the smell of azaleas around our Southeast Texas home and I thought to myself, "I am well rounded. I am a daughter of the South, proud of my heritage and upbringing. There is nothing like the charm and simpleness of life that holds such a dear place in my heart as the Gulf Coast. But upon leaving the Pacific Northwest I think I took a little of her with me as well. I know for certain I took a very special part of Colleen and my father in law Rick, and as much as my heart ached for being in the south and being "home", I know find myself thinking of them often and feeling a little tug at my heart that might just be a little "homesickness". It's good to be a nomad, where home is just closed eyes, a sweet memory, and the love of family that is with you no matter where you go.