The house that built me: A goodbye to 9065B Frazier St

9065B Frazier St is the house that we called home for the past five years. It was about 1400 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, built in the 1950s and had two of the most beautiful Oak trees you have ever seen. I absolutely adored this house. Even though it was base housing, we got to pick it. I remember when our journey started at Laughlin; Danny and I went and scoped out a few of the empty houses before we met with (what was then called) Pinnacle, the housing company. We were shown three, and none of them were 9065B Frazier. If you know Laughlin AFB housing, you know that one side of the street, the houses are updated, but not the other. I cried when the other three houses were on the "not updated" side and we begged the director to let us have 9065B. She said we would have to wait a bit until it was ready for move in, and we were more than happy to. It's quite funny how things turn out, because a house we were supposed to be in for just a year for UPT, turned out to be five. I know God picked this beautiful house for us, and gave it to us to make amazing memories in for the five years we were there.

It was not big, nor beautiful, nor updated, and some would venture to say it was not worth our BAH rate, but it was to me. I loved that house and often thought it would be awesome if those walls/trees could talk. The stories it could tell of how military life had evolved in the past 60 years, the families that lived in that house, the families that were started in that house, the dreams realized and possibly broken in that house, it's all so fascinating to think about.

But for our story, all of our dreams were realized in that house. Danny and I were married, Danny realized his dream of becoming a Pilot, we were blessed with becoming parents, I realized my dream of being a mother, we brought Emily home, we watched our marriage and daughter grow in that house. We went through the hardest and most wonderful times there. Danny found out he was going to be a daddy in the back bedroom, Emily took her first steps in the kitchen, we found out what plane Danny was going to be flying in the driveway. I will always and forever remember the sound of the screen door when Danny came home, and the squeals from Emily that followed. I will remember planting flowers and taking many seasons to find out exactly what plants work in what parts of the yard. I will remember how Emily's swing that we put in the tree made a squeaky sound as we pushed her. I will remember putting her diapers out on the clothesline. I will remember filling the bird feeder and watching 6-10 gorgeous Cardinals everyday. I will remember the smell of laundry as we took stroller walks around the neighborhood. I will remember the tree lined streets and how it was so peaceful and quiet on Laughlin. I will remember hearing the three trainers flying overhead, and being able to pinpoint exactly which one was going overhead and if they were in the pattern.

I watched our entire lives and our memories be packed away in about 12 hours. As Danny and I sat in the middle of the living room floor in our empty house, it was hard for me to accept that we would never be coming "home" again. We would never pull into that drive, see Emily at the sliding glass door, or open that front door again. We took one last heartbreaking walk through that house, as if to try to capture and remember our memories. I pray the next family makes as many memories as we did, and then takes them with them as they close the door for the last time.

I will cherish all of our memories. I feel incredibly blessed to have been stationed here and to watch my husband accomplish something many only dream of doing. It was an honor and I thank God for letting this be our first assignment. There could not have been a better one! I'm excited we are opening up a new chapter in our lives, but 9065B Frazier and Laughlin will always hold a special place in my heart.