CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1510651
8 November 2023 Aria Spears is a writer, communications professional and civic leadership enthusiast. With a master's degree in nonprofit and civic leadership, Aria can be found exploring cities, persuading people to join local civic boards and sharing her book e Community Mapping Journal. When it comes to active-duty military family life, she believes that joy makes us strong. FROM THE HOMEFRONT Moving is daunting, but there are benefits BY ARIA SPEARS 'Packing Queen / young and sweet / just survi-iving …' S ong parodies have been my saving grace during this PCS (Permanent Change of Station). My spouse and I moved three times in the past year due to circumstances beyond our control. We also had our first baby about eight weeks ago. e past 12 months has been chaotic, to say the least. One of our moves was in the same town — from our rental house to an apartment, when the landlords wanted to move back in. e next move was halfway across the country from Missouri to South Carolina. e last move was from South Carolina to North Carolina. Yesterday, I realized I've lived in 18 different homes throughout my life. I had never counted them before. e angst and grief I felt when moving suddenly began to make more sense. Each move typically brings on the same cycle: Denial. Anger. Anxiety. Acceptance. is most recent PCS from S.C. to N.C. was no different. We had lived in Columbia for just under six months. During this time, we had had our first baby and enjoyed the first few sweet weeks of being a family of three. We lived in a studio apartment in an area called Forest Acres. e apartment complex shared an address with retail shops selling cookies, fresh juice, South Carolina fare and more. It was surrounded by tall, old pines. My days were spent working from the studio, lounging on the one couch in our living room while gazing out the floor-to-ceiling window-door to the pool below. And aer the baby was born, she would join me there as I learned to care for and feed her. Columbia will always represent a very specific snapshot of time in my life: e time I became a parent to our girl. CityView's HomeFront initiative has added two columnists who will write regularly about issues Fort Liberty military families face. If there's a topic you'd like our columnists address, let us know at talk@cityviewnc.com.