I remember driving over a huge blue (or is it green? Locals can’t decide) bridge and smiling ear to ear as my toddler yelled from the back, “I can see the ocean.” Our time here were  filled with theme park annual passes, trips to the beach, and shopping downtown. It was a wonderful whirlwind, one we were all sad when it was time to roll out on the way to our next duty station four years after arriving.

Three duty stations and four and a half years later, we got orders to return.

We were ecstatic! Let me say, I love to move. I love the exploring, I love the adventure, I love the fresh start.

But, I was thrilled to get an assignment to a familiar place — a place that we loved.

Even though time had passed, I was excited to see familiar faces. So many of our friends had been civilian neighbors who were still in the area.

Especially since we were moving during the first summer of the pandemic, I thought that moving to an old haunt would be an easier transition. And sometimes it was, but sometimes it wasn’t. 

Remember the World Never Stops

While I knew that things would be different, it can be easy to forget that while you are away, people may change, too. 

Kids grow up and people change, too. While so many of our friends from before were still around, I found that we’d grown apart.

Sometimes we found we had different interests or our kids weren’t in playgroups together anymore. We were in different stations of life, and while it took some getting used to, it was okay.

I found the opening line of a poem to Brian A. Chalker poem to be true, “People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.”

Don’t expect people to be the same as when you left. You’ve grown as a person, they have, too. 

Revisit Old Favorites

I’ve written previously about how I’m a huge fan of making a bucket list at each duty station. When we came back here, I didn’t immediately dig out my bucket list from our first go ‘round.

It took me too long to realize that just like we’d changed, so had many of the places on our bucket list. Beach days aren’t about building sandcastles anymore; they’re about paddleboarding along the canals.

Some of those old bucket list items may no longer be of interest, but may inspire new additions. 

Find a New Place

We came back to find that one of our favorite restaurants (of all time!) had closed just months before got back into town.

We were so disappointed, my daughter especially.

We’d driven downtown for many celebrations and fun family dinners at that restaurant. But, we gave other places a try, and now we have the memories from the old place, and new places, too.

Keep an Open Mind

Try not to get stuck in a mindset of “used to be.” When you’re constantly reminiscing of what used to be, you’ll miss what is now.

Enjoy the present by exploring what is around you. Meet new people. Check out new places.

Of course, you’ll miss the people and places that made the place special (or more tolerable!) the first time around, but don’t spend so much time missing what was that you miss out on the amazing people and places that can make the duty station amazing this time around.

There are so many great things about repeating a duty station (hey, my eye doctor is still there!) and I don’t need GPS to get around.

But, if you let it, repeating a duty station can make you feel stuck, too. Go in with an open mind and take it one day at a time to enjoy it the second (or third) time around.

*For more from Sheila, check out her M:M Author Page.