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We who have lived on base after base have many shared experiences. You know you live on a military base when…
1. Your kids are blessed with immediate friends because every other house on your street has kids their age who attend the same school.
2. You don’t have kids, but the neighborhood children still play in your front yard.
3. Your neighbor informs you that they are moving out and you later find out that you know the new family moving in before they get there.
4. All the pictures on your wall are crooked from artillery explosions.
5. Housing actually removes hundreds of dollars of beautiful plants from your front yard upon move out to keep the neighborhood looking ‘uniform’.
6. You know exactly what your neighbor means when she says, “My Marine has gone TDY to UAE for 12 weeks until we PCS this spring.”
7. You run into former co-workers and acquaintances you last saw two duty stations ago at the Commissary.
8. You’re among the frequent neighborhood offenders if you have a tire swing out front, kid’s equipment, or flags hanging besides the American or service specific flags.
9. Your neighbors bring your trash and recycling cans in, because they know your servicemember is deployed.
10. You quit buying nice furniture because it will get destroyed next time you PCS.
11. You can find a resale page or garage sale every weekend.
12. You still feel broke, even though your BAH covers your home.
13. You give yourself a pat down before you drive back on base to make sure your military ID is ready for the gate guard.
14. Children, adults, and cars immediately stop when ‘Colors’ are played.
15. You make the lifelong friends with the most diverse group of people ever imagined
