## Manassas ![[me-in-manassas.jpg]] I grew up in Manassas, Virginia- just outside of the DC metro area. It was a nice place to start my life off. We had the Manassas National Battlefield Park nearby where I have fond memories of sledding with my family. When I got older I’d ride my bike and ford Bull Run and ride around the Bull Run Park in Fairfax County, or I’d do a little fishing on the creek. As Gen X it truly was a time when our parents wouldn't worry too much where we were as long as we were home before the streetlights came on. ## Arizona We moved from Virginia to Arizona right before my 13th birthday. I started middle school at Stonewall Middle School in Manassas VA and finished middle school at Shea Middle School in Phoenix AZ. ## Back to Virginia A lot of years passed before I lived in Virginia again for my final/retirement assignment at Fort Belvoir. I joined the military in 1985 and retired at the end of 2008. During my time in the Air Force and Army my journey often took me to places where my father had also been, including Fort Lewis, Washington, Chuncheon (Camp Page) Korea, and Fort Belvoir VA. My father started off his brief Army stint at Fort Belvoir at the close of the Korean War and I closed out my 24 years of service there.