by suelarkinsweems | Sep 26, 2015 | On Military Life
Unpack (v.) to undo; remove the contents It’s undoing me. The crinkle of paper and crunch of cardboard. Treasures are mixed with trash and the sorting feels like it will never end. I have probably requested a dumpster once a day for the last two months—not that I’d...
by suelarkinsweems | Aug 1, 2015 | On Military Life
At the beginning of re-entry, everything feels like a blank canvas. Right now, the world around us seems very small, a network of single roads that lead to the Publix or the dentist or to Lowes. Anything further requires navigation. Each time I drive out of our...
by suelarkinsweems | Jul 24, 2015 | On Military Life
After kissing the ground and vowing never to drive again, the work begins as we argue over who gets which air mattress. Then we promptly forget our no-driving-vows to make runs to Target and Lowes, along with Sonic and Starbucks. We’ve been here a week now and...
by suelarkinsweems | Jul 17, 2015 | On Military Life
In case it seems moving is entirely an exercise in managing grief… I knew it would be a challenge to begin a cross-country road trip directly after an international flight, but we were in a time crunch to get to South Carolina. Despite a lot of driving on Okinawa, I...
by suelarkinsweems | Jul 13, 2015 | On Military Life
We’re cheating on this phase this time, since we already have housing at our new duty station—a huge relief to have that one detail worked out. We often take an extra couple weeks in the midst of a move to visit family and friends, especially since we seem to swap...
by suelarkinsweems | Jul 11, 2015 | On Military Life
I meant to write this post earlier, but my brain was packed in the silverware box and might not survive the knives. I am currently operating on PCS-backup-brain, and nothing I say for the next six months can or should be used against me. I have a solid insanity...
