Packing Up Christmas, Packing Up Our Lives

Every January of a PCS year, as I take down the ornaments from the Christmas tree and pack it all away, I imagine where I might be when it’s time to put it all back up. Have you ever done the same?

We’ve never had orders in January for our summer moves. Most times, we have already submitted our options, but we usually don’t see our RFOs until spring. The beginning of the year is always a time of mystery as we await that defining notification.

I only spent one Christmas at my very first duty station as an Army wife. I remember packing up Christmas that January, wondering if the report would be true, that we’d be extended a few extra months and enjoy another Christmas in that house, or if we would have to move that summer per my husband’s normal PCS cycle.

So, I carefully put away our Christmas ornaments, studying our new ones as a married couple and reflecting on the sweet memories each brought to me. As I finished taking down our new, conveniently pre-lit, faux tree, I imagined all the places we could possibly be by the end of the year (of course it ended up being somewhere new). And ever since, on a PCS year, I have done the same. I pack up, I reflect, and I imagine.

Packing Up

It’s bittersweet. As military families, sometimes we get antsy and ready to move. A PCS is always looming, so after a little time passes, it’s as if our beings just know. We start purging unneeded household items, we complete our checklists of places to visit in that area, we dream and plan for the next duty station. It can be exciting to predict where we will end up. Sometimes, the move date can’t come fast enough!

But many times, we have grown to love our current area and aren’t quite ready to leave. It’s always sad to say see ya later to new friends or to the house in which we’ve created so many memories.

And it’s hard. I don’t know anyone who genuinely loves to go through the logistics of a move. The preparations and transitions can be difficult.

Packing away Christmas on a PCS year fills me with all sorts of emotions. I put things away with slight hesitation, sometimes not quite wanting this to be the last time I see these decorations in this particular home. At the same time, I’m excited for the home in which I may see these decorations again.

Reflecting

As we’ve moved around, travelled, and spent Christmases in many places over the years, we’ve gradually collected new ornaments. We’ve also started ornament collections for our kids, buying each of them a new one every year, reminding us of an adventure we took or a place we visited. I know a lot of people do this, and I think it’s even more fun as a military family. Once our kids move away, we’ll send them with their box of ornaments to use with their new family, each trinket retelling them of their incredible escapades as an Army Brat.

As we pack and go through our keepsakes, memories fill us again. I rediscover a treasured child’s toy and remember the birthday party when it was given to us, the house in which it was celebrated in the desert, the prairie, overseas and back, and the special friends who were there to join us. As I pull out a unique serving dish, I remember the shop in the Korean ally in which I discovered it, or the brand new PX which stocked itself with gorgeous Polish Pottery. I reuse water bottles with inscriptions of installations or business logos from a TDY to Colorado or an orientation fair in Georgia.

And those treasured ornaments? They are from our fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii, our beautiful excursion to Sequoia National Park in California, our exciting stay at Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, or the little shop in the Florida Everglades after an educational airboat tour. How privileged are we to have had these opportunities?

Imagining

And once again, as I help store some of these items or pack up Christmas one last time in this house, I wonder where I will be taking these items out next time. Will it be a place in our top five? Will it be a location we were forced to rank on our list of options? Will we still be going through a tough transition next Christmas, or will we already be settled in nicely and loving it all? Will we even all be together next Christmas, or will my husband be deployed? Soon, with one phone call or email, most of these questions will be resolved.

I am excited! But nervous.

The Now

I still don’t have all of Christmas packed away. Mostly because our schedule has been so full, but part of me is procrastinating to pack up Christmas and pack up our lives. We will have been at this duty station for three years by the time we move, a very long time for us! We’ve put down some extra roots, and a lot of life has happened here in that time. For now, I’m treasuring it all and fully enjoying the months we have left.

Many times, we are not assigned the places for which we hoped. Sometimes, I go unenthusiastically, and I might fully dislike the area at first. Yet, every single time I eventually grow to love our new home.  I always know we have been sent there for a reason and that reason will unfold in due time.

Do you collect ornaments from places you’ve travelled, too? Maybe this is your year to PCS. If you already have orders and are apprehensive about them, keep your chin up! When I am notified, whether I’m initially satisfied about it or not, I’ll start searching all the fun things to do, all of the interesting houses in which we could possibly live, and where we may be unpacking Christmas and unpacking our lives again.

And I’ll begin to feel excited.

How are you feeling? I truly hope that when you find your next Christmas ornament near your new home, it will later bring a peaceful smile to your face. Then, you can look back and reflect on the great things that happened there, and feel blessed you were given the opportunity.

If you enjoyed this, you may like Pandemic PCSing and Plan Your Next Home’s Decor While Your PCS Is On Hold.