Proud to be a dandelion

[Grant Lamontagne]

I recently found out that I was a Dandelion- this is something that I didn't know most of my life, and now all of a sudden it is a thing.  Regardless of what I'm called, I am proud of what I am.



I'm a Military Brat- my father served in both the Army and the Air Force, first as a Combat Engineer, then as an Administrator.  A lot of folks ask me what it was like moving around all the time, and what I thought of that life.  I just kind of shrug, because it wasn't "that kind of life" to me, it was just life.  Since it was all I knew, I really had nothing to compare it to, so I can't really say what my preference was.  It seems to have had a lasting impression on me though, as I have moved around at least as much since leaving home as I did when I was a kid in a military family.



My mother found and purchased these coins for my brother and I, and since I just visited my parents this weekend she finally got around to giving it to me.  So what is the significance?  Well, the term Brats is actually an acronym for Born, Raised And Transferred Somewhere, although I think the term "brats" just applied to us since we were kids, and someone tried to legitimise the term by giving it a fancy meaning.   



I guess the idea is that, like dandelion seed pods, we spread out, and it's true- I doubt there are too many places across Canada that I wouldn't be too far from someone I know, and more than a few countries with pretty well the same result.

Personally, I have dug up and sworn at enough dandelions in my time that I have to wonder how much I really appreciate that analogy, because let's face it, no one actually likes Dandelions, do they?

Either way, like it or not, I was a military brat, I saw a lot of the country by the time many "normal" kids had seen outside of their own town, and, it's a big part of what makes me the man I am today.  I don't need a title, philosophy or coin to remind me where I came from, but it is there, and the coin is pretty nice. 

Def

[ducttapetech]

I like dandelions. Rug rat myself.

[dks]

I always considered you a pretty flower  

[JP]

But....Do you smell like a flower to others?

Sent from my XT1563 using Tapatalk

[ducttapetech]

Grant or me?

[dks]

You are both beautiful and special in your own way 

[AlephZero]

I do wonder... literal translation of a Dandelion in Finnish mean "butter flower"... This why the unhealthy liking to LARD?


 

[AlephZero]

You are both beautiful and special in your own way

[styx]

That's nice. Just one question - if someone sneezes in your general direction, do you get messed up?

[AlephZero]

That's nice. Just one question - if someone sneezes in your general direction, do you get messed up?

Sneeze? He has more to worry than just simple sneeze...

[Whoey]

I do wonder... literal translation of a Dandelion in Finnish mean "butter flower"... This why the unhealthy liking to LARD?


 

Wonder if this has anything to do with an ancestor of mine who sailed with the real Floki to Iceland (Thorolfur [Butter] Thorsteinsson/Þórólfur smjör Þorsteinsson) 

[Aloha]

I know quite a few military "brats".  While some very much enjoyed their travels quite a few had a hard time adjusting to new schools and making friends. 

Often times the family is left out when the word "sacrifice" is mentioned about the soldier.  The families of said soldiers also pays their due in many ways.   

[Whoey]

I was a partial base brat.

[ducttapetech]

I know quite a few military "brats".  While some very much enjoyed their travels quite a few had a hard time adjusting to new schools and making friends. 

Often times the family is left out when the word "sacrifice" is mentioned about the soldier.  The families of said soldiers also pays their due in many ways.

Pretty much true and we'll said.
I got to see some cool places and cool military equipment and birds. However, it got to the point I didn't really bother trying to make new friends. But I tend to be a loner anyways. And I would not ever trade the experience. Loved watching the Hercs and B-52s rolling down the strip. Riding around in armoured cars, jeeps and Humvees as a kid.

[Whoey]

I had CP-140 Aurora's at one base, and CF-18s at the other.