In a Previous Life......

Have you ever been someplace were you said to yourself, I think I’ve been here before. Things are vaguely familiar. You know you’ve seen this place before but you can’t put your finger on it. It’s almost like you’ve been there in another life.

That has been my week.

I traveled to a conference for work. The conference location has made me break a promise I made to myself to never visit this place again. What kind of location would be so traumatic and bring back feelings making it somewhere I wouldn’t want to return?

The location, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Why is this place important? Eighteen (18) years ago, almost to the day, this was the site I began my short adventure in the Army. Basic Training! Eighteen years! A lifetime ago…I would argue three or four lifetimes.

As I got to the location of the conference things felt strange as I felt I had been here before but things were not exactly as I remembered. The area looked similar but there were new buildings, a swimming pool, structures were a different color and new “features” had been added. I soon discovered that I was directly across the street from the barracks I lived in during my previous 8-week visit back in the summer of 1991. What gave away the location was a towering structure that over looked the site. Sure, the water tower has been painted and it’s a different color but there was no mistaking the shape. I took a walk over by the chow hall, supply depot and barracks. Even the phones, were I spent time waiting to call home and inform my parents “I think I made a mistake,” were present. How many times have they heard that conversation during the past 18 years? To my surprise, it ended up being a little refreshing to visit the site remembering all the good and bad times. I felt a little closure; it was almost peaceful without a drill sergeant yelling at you.

Even with the trauma of returning to this location, I think of the things it has done for me. The opportunities and doors it has made available as well as the lifestyle it instilled. As the commercial used to go, a statement I believe is very true and accurate, “It’s a great place to start.”

On a funny side note, my anxiety was so high that even last night before returning to the base I had a dream. In it I was returning to basic training. Standing there tapping her toe with her hands on her hips was my four year old daughter saying “Daddy, how are you going to be back in two days if you go in there?” My dream was full of all the things I had done during basic and my fear of having to come back to her to say I might be a little longer. Thankfully I woke up and realized I only had to visit for a conference. Thankfully I won’t have to let her down.

I digress but would like to add; people in the Military make an incredible sacrifice to do their jobs far away from friends and family. The sacrifice was more than I could give. People that perform this duty are something special. They deserve our gratitude, no matter your politics.

Photos were from my phone camera so some of them aren't that good.