Several of my friends are in the middle of a PCS right now. I, thankfully, am not. But oddly, there is a small part of me which is envious of them.
Now, I know what you're thinking. And the answer is yes. I am a little nuts....
Moving is a stressful and overwhelming experience. I find that my husband and I have short fuses on both ends of a move. But when you get beyond that and things start falling in place, the short fuses burn out and I appreciate the time we have -- just us -- before reporting date arrives and we start building our lives in a new community.
While I'm sure to make new friends and become oriented and comfortable with my surroundings at some point, I enjoy those precious few days when we have no obligations other than setting up a house. There are no FRG meetings, no neighborhood watch meetings, no work, no unit functions, social or otherwise. I like going to the grocery store or mall and knowing it's unlikely that I'll run into someone I know.
Two PCS moves ago, the installation hosted a large orientation/welcome social. As we were getting ready for the event, my husband and I were both a little quiet and I knew what he was thinking. The same thing I was thinking, "It all begins tonight." We headed to the social and parked the car. Hand-in-hand, we began walking towards the gathering. I looked at my husband and said, "You sure you want to go?" He looked at me and asked for clarification. "Well, we could skip it and go to dinner instead."
And that's exactly what we did. We found an Italian restaurant and enjoyed one more evening together before reality set in and our calendars began to fill up. It was bliss....
It's so rare that we get a break from the hectic pace of life. It's so rare that we don't have to share each other with bosses, colleagues, friends and other family. So for those of you who are on the move and looking for a silver lining - enjoy the phantom time you have at your new place. Friends and activities are wonderful, but they will come soon enough.
