Intro: Not Very Upbeat Right Now
Well, I found this site while researching “Children of military families”. I was looking for folks who may have some insite to why I have turned out the way I have (not very well right now). My father,a career Navy/DOD person, dragged my sisters and I all over the place. I am 45 and realized that I have no lifelong friends as most other kids who grown up in one place. it is starting to bother me. I never call anyone and I never answer the phone. I just don’t want any friends right now.
Oh well, thats enough for now. Jeffreyt
Jeff Y
Well, I found this site while researching "Children of military families". I was looking for folks who may have some insite to why I have turned out the way I have (not very well right now). My father,a career Navy/DOD person, dragged my sisters and I all over the place. I am 45 and realized that I have no lifelong friends as most other kids who grown up in one place. it is starting to bother me. I never call anyone and I never answer the phone. I just don't want any friends right now. Oh well, thats enough for now. JeffreytRelated Posts
3 Comments to “Intro: Not Very Upbeat Right Now”
August 18th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
I am 45 too and I remember how difficult it was to keep in touch with people who moved away to other countries - or well, if I moved away to another country.
When we were teenagers there was no Internet and hence no forums, no msn, no email, etc.
International calls were still very expensive. They didn’t even have discount rates back then.
PCs were still a rare luxury. Floppy discs were huge literally ‘floppy’ things and video games consisted of a dark screen with green primitive graphics on it. Only very lucky kids even had these.
The CD had not even been invented yet and we had tape recorders and LPs.
Indeed, in our teenage years LP meant a long playing record and not Linkin Park.
I have to admit my dearest friends don’t even live in the same continent as I do. One is in Australia and the other is in Japan.
We’ve also almost lived for half a century so I think we’re at least entitled to being a bit hermit like if we want to.
I’ve learned to appreciate the small things in life - provided there are small things to appreciate around me!
My dearest friend once told me that’s what he does when he’s feeling a bit down - try to appreciate the small things in life.
I asked him what he meant by this.
He said, “Watching sunbeams dance on the leaves of the plants.”
I looked out my window and only saw ugly and depressing telephone lines. I was living in a modest apartment in Tokyo and of course didn’t have a garden.
One day I moved to a much nicer apartment (after changing jobs and working a lot harder and for much longer hours) - life got better. My new apartment was right outside a park and I could see sunbeams dancing on the leaves of the trees and on the surface of the small lake.
But in the end I moved to Spain where the ’small things in life’ that I can appreciate are much easier to come by.
Maybe you need a change of pace too like I did?
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August 18th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Hi, Jeffrey. I can tell from your ‘voice’ and what you say that you must feel quite alienated right now. I am from a military family, too, USAF, and I just turned 53. My brothers and I were ‘dragged around’, so I guess we experienced what you did.
I remember all my friends from back then, wonder what happened to them all, and sometimes I think about them and, well, just wonder. Where is Charlie Davis, my sweet little buddy from the early 60s?
It’s possible that there may be a bit of a gender difference here…when I reached high school, I bonded with four girls and we stuck to each other like magnets.
Becoming socially isolated can snowball; I know that.
I am a newbie here, but I already find people are very warm and accepting. If you hang around and reach out more, like you just did, you’ll get to know people like I am.
Your pain seems palpable and I send you support during a rough time in your life. Maybe looking backward and reflecting about your life is a good thing right now, even if it is painful. It helped you reach TCKid!
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August 18th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
For those here at TCKid who are military brats, you might look at http:/www.military-brats.com - this is a site that is run by a military brat - and where you can sign up/join, and look for former classmates/friends! There is also another site, militarybrats.net/home.php where there is a forum similar to this one.
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