I am in the weeds with this PCS. I’ve just moved overseas for the first time and I’m struggling to find my footing. I’m living in a TLF (Temporary Living Facility) at Ramstien AB for an unknown amount of time before I can find a home and my household goods arrive from the states. Our car hasn’t made it off the boat, my iPhone doesn’t work and my Internet is iffy. My children are starting school in just a two short weeks and I am so not ready, completely unprepared – and suspect neither are they.
However, when I look at their sweet faces they seem fine, almost unchanged. My daughter colors and doodles continually on the floor – no piece of paper is safe from flowers and rainbows and I’ve purchased so many Hot Wheels tracks for my son that my entire TLF is an endless race track. But why do I feel so unsettled, almost unnerved about my family status?
I’m filled with more doubt than assurances. I need a little encouragement, almost a temperature check, from a familiar voice and friend. I pull out my temporarily extreme low-tech track phone (honestly, I think braille would be easier) to call a fellow military spouse who also happens to be in the middle of yet another move herself (#12 PCS, I think).
She happily chats with me while I hear the ripping of tape and popping of box tops in the background. We start with idle chat, and then she pauses and finally says to me, “Hey, what’s really going on with you?”
I can’t hide it anymore. I start to ramble and then I just let it out. I’m feeling the pinch and stress of my seventh move in nine years. I’m worried about my children finding friends again and thriving in school. They were so happy at our last assignment, we had some fabulous breakthroughs. It was heartbreaking to leave.
