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Choosing 1 of 3 Cities to Live In
And the winner was…
It was sometime during the 1960s. I think I was maybe in the fifth grade. The family had been living in Maryland for the two previous years. That is all it took for me to become a Maryland freak. Like any kid can, I thoroughly loved where I lived.
But change was in the air.
It was during this year that my father was faced with a huge decision. For over a quarter of a century he had been a career soldier in the United States Army. He had been in Europe during and after the “big one.” He had also spent a year in Korea. He was aiming to be a 30-year soldier.
But then the Army gave him a choice. He could either re-enlist and immediately be sent to Vietnam or he could retire.
It was a painful yet easy decision to make. My father chose to retire.
While the official retirement was still a few months away, the family dove head-long into making a decision as to where to retire. According to our mother there was no way the family would retire on the East Coast. She HATED the East Coast. Our father, who was born and raised on the East Coast — a place that always felt like home to him — had developed a deep fondness for the Great American Southwest Desert. As for me, I really did not want to move AGAIN. But for Army brats moving was a way…
