My family have been on the move
Ever since I can remember
During my elementary grades
We moved every two years
I attended five different schools

We lived modestly in housing projects
Duplexes of blue or pink
Floors of concrete, cinder block walls, and evap cooling
One bathroom, one or two bedrooms
For a family of two adults and five kids

We kids learned to be ready in a flash
When my parents decided it was time to leave
Even when we didn't want to, we had to go
What else are children to do
No one wants to be left behind

I have no childhood home or childhood friends
I do remember them in my mind
What some of their names were, what they looked like
But I never found any of them
How many served or died in Vietnam I'll never know

My teen years were no better
Different towns, different high schools
Different housing
I began to think
"I can't wait to leave"

I left after high school
And moved to the heartland
Back to northern Arizona
Then on to southern California
Until I enlisted in the Women's Army Corps

Still moving around but with some purpose
Basic training in Alabama, signal school in Georgia
Then assigned to southern Arizona
Finally reassigned to the Pentagon in Virginia
Where I finished my enlistment in 1973

After Virginia I continued to move
New York, Missouri, Colorado
Back to Arizona (for the final time)
Then on to Florida, and now I have
Found a home in northern California

I am home