Sweet Home New Mexico: So long, Cannon

I am sad to say that this will be my last column in Cannon Connections. Our family is moving to Hill Air Force Base near Salt Lake City, Utah, and our packers come tomorrow. I am nowhere near ready for them. I am actually sad to be leaving Clovis, this place I have called home for the last two and a half years. This has been our first assignment with the Air Force, and will likely always be one of my favorites.

I know my husband has been so honored to serve in his capacity as a JAG within the AFSOC community. It has been a wonderful first assignment for him, and I know the experiences he has had here in his career field are going to serve him well as we move on to other bases with other missions.

When I found out this was going to be our first assignment and looked at it on a map and then Googled it for information and saw how small the town was, I have to honestly say I wasn't so excited about coming here. But I have come to love this place and the people I have met and friends I have made here. It will be a tearful drive when we pull out of Clovis for good.

My advice to those of you still here would be to live and not just endure your life, even if you're not in a place you really want to be at the moment. Be positive. These are years of your life you will never get back, so appreciate the work you or your spouse are getting to do at this very special base with a very special mission. Choose happiness and contentment over bitterness and disappointment. There are good memories to be made here, so get to making them!

I was thinking of some of the things about Clovis I will miss. I will miss Leal's crispy chile rellenos and stuffed avocados. I will miss my church and the sense of family and support I found there. I will miss Ned Houk Park and my kids will miss the Clovis Zoo that is $3 of absolute fun. I will miss living in a house where my son can walk across the street to go to school. I will miss the Presbyterian preschool where my daughter has learned and been loved for the last two years by wonderful, caring teachers. Of course there are things I will not miss, but that will be the case with any place we live.

This career is not for the faint of heart, but I feel the benefits outweigh the sacrifices at every turn. Thanks for the memories, Cannon!

Jeni Ennis is an Air Force wife and a mama to three blue-eyed beauties. Contact her at: [email protected]