Some Duty Stations are Just Plain Jinxed

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Sarah left a comment on my last post which prompted me to think about something. Two somethings, actually. The first is that her comment reflected how different each of us are. A lesson I learn over and over again here at SpouseBUZZ, and one which reminds me that our diverse backgrounds and interests are one of the many things that make military life so interesting and special.

But the thought that came immediately to mind when I read Sarah's comment:

I'm sure it's because I was born in Oklahoma, but am I the only freak who likes the plains? (AWTM, get my back here.) I would be tickled to be stationed in Kansas...

Was this...

My husband and I were stationed in Kansas at one point, and of all the duty stations we've been assigned, that was the worst place ever. It was the one place I couldn't wait to leave.In fact, when we crossed the state line, Ihonked my horn in joy, waved goodbye and crossed my fingers that we'd never, ever go back.

Sound harsh?It probably does, but the reason I hated our time in Kansas had nothing to do with the state, or the assignment, or thepeople there, or even the weather (although I admit I hated the weather). You see, we experienced a lot of tragedy while stationed in Kansas. My father-in-law became gravely ill, and eventually died. He died in the middle of a brutal Kansas winter andwe came awfully close to missing the wake due to an ice storm that threatened to keep us on the ground.

Our dog also contracted a rare bacterial infection and almost died. In fact, the vet told us he had a 5% chance of making it through the night.He was a tough little cookie and defied the odds, butit was a horriblesituation. He had to receive specialtycare and was hospitalized an hour away from us.Twice a day, I was allowed "visitation" and would drive four hours a day to spend thirty minutes at a time with him until he recovered.I won't tell you what the vet bill was or you might pass out, like I almost did, but I'll say this, it was worth every penny because he lived several more years. I would have soldeverything I owned to give him the care he needed. You can't put a price-tag on the joy and unconditional love that he gave us.

Our house also flooded that year (while my husband was away), ruining a lot of furniture, including one special gift my husband bought for me while deployed. It was very inexpensive, but also irreplacable. While not nearly as important as the other items described above, the flooding was a major hassle to deal with. Other minor things occurred while in Kansas, but when you add them all up (seemedsomething horrible occurred weekly), it was just a miserable time and I was literally counting the days until we were outta there....

So, would I have liked Kansas any better if all the bad stuff didn't occur? I'm sure I would have, but whenever I think about being in Kansas, I can't help but think about all the things that went wrong there. It evokes very bad memories.

Have you ever been stationed somewhere that you just couldn't wait to leave, or a place that you felt was jinxed?

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