My Greatest Adventure: Happy Purple Up Day
One day, when I was probably eight or nine, I was home alone at our off-base housing and decided I wanted to go to the base. So I got on my cute little bicycle and went.
I went by myself.
Again, pretty young, living off base, and going off on my own.
I biked through tunnels carved into mountains, one after another. I passed through a train station, and once the light changed colors for pedestrians to cross, I biked over the tracks, noticing how amazingly smooth they were, nothing like I had ever biked over before.
The road kept going, and so did I. I passed things I couldn’t name, in a foreign language I didn’t speak, in a country of my dad’s current duty station. Yet, none of it slowed me down.
I don’t even know how long the trip took. But I wasn’t worried. It didn’t even occur to me to be. It felt like the greatest adventure of my life.
When I finally arrived at the gate, I proudly flashed my military ID card. I noticed that the guard looked past me, as though to see if my parents were right behind me. Despite his confusion, he let me pass through.
I don’t remember how I found my parents after that. Maybe the front gate notified them somehow, concerned that a little girl had arrived at the base alone. But when we reunited, they had to ask, “How did you get here?!”
That’s when I very proudly told my story.
In hindsight, I was unaware of the rigidity of military life. All I had was my sense of adventure and an unabashed curiosity. As a military kid, I never had to question my safety. I was just... free to wonder and explore.
Today, when life gets hard, or I catch myself making decisions way too seriously, I try to tap back into that childlike wonder. Remembering that I was “that kid,” the kid who got on her bike without a second thought, a little explorer simply eager to discover what else the world had to offer.
Happy Purple Up Day & Month of the Military Child. 💜
— Jen