Today I realized just how short my time left in the Air Force is. I’ll only have a real job for another 20 days and then it is just finishing out my time with out processing and terminal leave. The last few months and weeks have flown by the fastest. I am only assuming that is because of the huge mountain of stuff that has needed to be dealt with at the end of a military career.
The family helped and successfully managed to host our movers to pack and ship the largest amount of household goods. We now live on loaner furniture in a house that echoes because of its emptiness. This brings feelings of melancholy of all the past moves when we’ve started a new adventure in a new place, or ended an assignment, sad to go, but looking forward to unknown opportunities.
Military life thrusts constant change on a person whether they want it or not. This leads to a lot of challenges but also means one must remain resilient and open to growth and learning, or you wouldn’t survive. It is no different for family members as they also must navigate multiple challenging changes throughout their loved one’s career.
As I walked through the empty house the day after the movers were done, I was struck by the vast array of things that have passed in and out of my life the last 27 years. It was overwhelming to consider the amazing things I’ve been able to experience, and yet feel this incredible wonder at what is next. Sitting in that moment of competing emotions was difficult but often how we experience life. The good and the bad, the happy the sad, the light and dark, all exist together and yet often experienced separately leaving us thinking life is either one or the other. In reality its all these things and more and I’m glad I could sit with that realization during monumental change.
Twenty days will wash away and steps will then be taken away from the Air Force rather than in it. I wonder where they will lead?