Home is where your memories are...
I've been thinking a lot about "home" since I arrived back at FOB Walton yesterday. I was gone less than 24 hours, but it felt like several days...and when the convoy pulled in and I got off with my bags I said aloud, "feels good to be home." But obviously I was not home. The FOB can feel like a safe haven and a prison all at the same time.
You can't be here without thinking about how you got here.
I ran 14 miles this afternoon, most of it outside in the cold wind. I watched the mountains disappear into blowing dust and the sunlight dim. As I ran and the music streamed from my iPod, I thought about all the places I'd lived before. El Campo, TX was the only home I knew until I graduated high school. It was my whole world but all that changed when I learned that I could leave. I remember being scared. But my parents drove me 950 miles away to Nashville, TN and my world got bigger. Four years later I graduated and spent the summer in Lexington at the University of Kentucky. When I finally had the realization that I was an adult and could go anywhere in the world that I wanted to go - I moved back to El Campo. It was like I needed to "tag home base" before I could decide what I wanted next.
I spent a year working at home - I skinned alligators - I did yard work - I ran the projector at the local movie theater - I helped start a local 5k - I volunteered with the high school cross country team - I ran marathons. Then I decided to join the Army. A hurricane hit the Texas coast a week before I moved to San Antonio and I helped board up the windows at my house. I stayed up that night as the wind blew hard but no rain fell. I was more afraid that I was going to be on my own for the first time in my life than I was of a hurricane.
Eventually all the hard work in PT school paid off...with graduation and a "dream" move to Colorado Springs. I was a little scared when I got there and realized I was starting my career. But I met some amazing people and was reunited with my old college friends. I made myself at home in a matter of weeks. Then I deployed to Afghanistan. It's definitely the "least like home" place I've ever lived and if you've ever had issues with daydreaming taking up a lot of your day, it doesn't get better over here.
But you find ways to adjust to your new life and you do things you did back at home. On Sunday mornings I get coffee at the DFAC and read the news. I sneak in a workout every day. On Monday morning I growl and on Friday I cheer (even though Saturday is a regular work day). I make tea some afternoons and I think of having tea with Elizabeth and Santiago. I get on Facebook and my blog and share my world.
And I run...I run and see myself fishing on the Colorado river with Bobby. Just as plain as day I am riding in Elizabeth's worn out van with the Lipscomb girls cross country team. I am eating a big Christmas dinner with family, I am riding my bike from Bullis County Park with Mo and Kija, I'm tubing on the Comal with the TexPTs crew, I'm running with Heather at McAllister, I'm at CrossfitSoCo with Meghann we're complaining that our workout has too many pull-ups, I am painting a cat with Rachel, I am over at Lacey's house helping with Christmas decorations, I am laughing with Audrey about the children she teaches, I am eating my mom's homemade meatloaf, I am snowshoeing with Ruth, John, Paige, and Jordan.
I'm just keeping home in my heart.
You can't be here without thinking about how you got here.
I ran 14 miles this afternoon, most of it outside in the cold wind. I watched the mountains disappear into blowing dust and the sunlight dim. As I ran and the music streamed from my iPod, I thought about all the places I'd lived before. El Campo, TX was the only home I knew until I graduated high school. It was my whole world but all that changed when I learned that I could leave. I remember being scared. But my parents drove me 950 miles away to Nashville, TN and my world got bigger. Four years later I graduated and spent the summer in Lexington at the University of Kentucky. When I finally had the realization that I was an adult and could go anywhere in the world that I wanted to go - I moved back to El Campo. It was like I needed to "tag home base" before I could decide what I wanted next.
I spent a year working at home - I skinned alligators - I did yard work - I ran the projector at the local movie theater - I helped start a local 5k - I volunteered with the high school cross country team - I ran marathons. Then I decided to join the Army. A hurricane hit the Texas coast a week before I moved to San Antonio and I helped board up the windows at my house. I stayed up that night as the wind blew hard but no rain fell. I was more afraid that I was going to be on my own for the first time in my life than I was of a hurricane.
Eventually all the hard work in PT school paid off...with graduation and a "dream" move to Colorado Springs. I was a little scared when I got there and realized I was starting my career. But I met some amazing people and was reunited with my old college friends. I made myself at home in a matter of weeks. Then I deployed to Afghanistan. It's definitely the "least like home" place I've ever lived and if you've ever had issues with daydreaming taking up a lot of your day, it doesn't get better over here.
But you find ways to adjust to your new life and you do things you did back at home. On Sunday mornings I get coffee at the DFAC and read the news. I sneak in a workout every day. On Monday morning I growl and on Friday I cheer (even though Saturday is a regular work day). I make tea some afternoons and I think of having tea with Elizabeth and Santiago. I get on Facebook and my blog and share my world.
And I run...I run and see myself fishing on the Colorado river with Bobby. Just as plain as day I am riding in Elizabeth's worn out van with the Lipscomb girls cross country team. I am eating a big Christmas dinner with family, I am riding my bike from Bullis County Park with Mo and Kija, I'm tubing on the Comal with the TexPTs crew, I'm running with Heather at McAllister, I'm at CrossfitSoCo with Meghann we're complaining that our workout has too many pull-ups, I am painting a cat with Rachel, I am over at Lacey's house helping with Christmas decorations, I am laughing with Audrey about the children she teaches, I am eating my mom's homemade meatloaf, I am snowshoeing with Ruth, John, Paige, and Jordan.
I'm just keeping home in my heart.
Great post, Sam! I enjoyed reading it. :)
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