Today is the day – the culmination of months of work and preparation, blood, sweat, and tears, all leading up to this…the day we say “farewell, JBLM,” and head off on our next adventure and PCS to South Korea. It’s true; JBLM and I got off to a rough start. When we first found out we were coming here, I was devastated. I had no desire whatsoever to live out here, and I had to shift my mindset. The Army sends us for 3 years to any given place, and it’s up to us what we make of it.
Today, as we say farewell to JBLM, I find myself looking back at JBLM with rose colored glasses, seeing a glass half full and remembering all the good, rather than the grievances. JBLM will forever be the duty station where we brought our baby girl home. It’s where we learned that we can weather the combined challenges of deployments, moving twice in a year, new schools, and a global pandemic. Together – and apart.
JBLM is the place where we found the Hinojosa family, our forever hiking buddies. It’s the place of adventure and spontaneity, sunsets, and mountains, and seaside, and snow – all accessible with the very best adventure buddies. It’s the place where we found the Margarita Moms (aka the Driveway Bishes) – formed when a bunch of tired mommas sat in a driveway and watched their littles collectively play with wild abandon until bedtime.
They say a duty station is what you make of it.
I agree.
Washington state might not be the place where I want to put down roots, and JBLM may have challenged us until the very end, but goodness…I am grateful for this epic adventure with my family that we’ve had the past three years. We’ve grown, we’ve learned, we’ve loved, and we’ve lost. Most of all though, we’ve found friends every step of the way, and we are immeasurably blessed.
So, farewell JBLM. You’ve challenged us to grow and learn, and I’ll forever look at this time as one hell of a ride.
Thank you.
