Posted on 10/30/2013 12:22:29 AM PDT by jy8z
USAF, the day I joined. BMTS 3706, Flight 102, July 22nd, 1976. I was 18.
Stayed in for 22 years and 9 days.
I can’t help but wonder what the responses would be to this question on a DU thread...lol
16 dropped out of school. Dad said “no school you pay rent, I said if I pay rent it will be for my own place, he said O.K.”
Moved from Houston to Austin. Moved in with friends and worked at a machine shop till a spot opened at the parts store.
Got married at 18 for 1st time.
Been working since until the last year or so.
Life rolls on...
Just under 18. Joined the Corps. After my stint, moved across the nation to the east coast. Have lived here ever since.
I left an abusive and dysfunctional household in 1976 at age 17 and never looked back. I moved from the far north to the deep south where I went to college for a year and most importantly, when I turned 18, I went throught the process of becoming an emancipated “child.” This meant that my parents could no longer declare me as a dependent on their tax returns, I was no longer required to include their assets and income in applying for college financial aid, and I was considered a legal resident of the state where I resided, which meant I could vote and qualified for in-state tuition.
After one year of college I took a year off to work full-time and then moved back north where I finished college and completed grad school (MBA/JD).
I have been working outside the house since the age of 12, have never been involuntarily unemployed to this date, and have never accepted unemployment benefits, foodstamps, or welfare of any kind, except for subsidized student loans (which I paid back within five years), work-study aid, and a modest tuition grant (which was privately funded).
Left for military college at age 17. 4 year ROTC scholarship. Commissioned 4 years later Regular Army branched Aviation. 8 years of active duty flying UH-60s. Went home during those years to visit, typical Holidays, some leave etc. Never asked for nor took a cent from my parents.
A day after I graduated from high school I was eating breakfast at the kitchen table. My dad laid the newspaper “want ads” on the table and told me I had two weeks to get a job. He told me what the price would be to rent my room if I wanted to stay home.
In the paper I saw an ad for the Army. I went right over and enlisted.
Tough love from a wise man.
As soon as I turned 18 in 1974, I signed up for a 4 year hitch in the Army. Returned home for a bit after that but things weren’t the same.
As they said after WW1, “How ‘ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Gay Paree?”
At 18 I went off to college, where I discovered one could find a party anytime. I had fun. In April of the second semester I realized the school was probably going to kick me out and I had a good idea where my Dad was going to kick me. So at age 19 I literally ran away and joined the Navy.
At age 39 I retired from the Navy.
At 19 I moved out to go to university as a junior. Late bloomer...
I had joined Air Force through early enlistment while still in high school. As soon as I graduated, couple months past 18th bday, i was headed to Basic.
I left for college when I was 18. Four years later, I returned.... with a good job. I lived at home for two months before getting an apartment across town.
However, I only lived in that apartment for about 6 months... You see, my mother was in the final stages of terminal cancer (multiple myeloma). One day, when I pulled into the local Gulf station to fill up with gas (Full service, billed at the END of the month!).... the owner (A Hispanic man who was the head of a large family) chastised me for not living at home to help my father. This is how life was in a small town. :-)
As much as I preferred being on my own, I knew he was right. So, I put my new furniture in storage and moved back home. Mom died 6 months later.... I ended up staying there until I married, about 7 months after.
So... when I moved out for the final time, I was actually 23.
18 and I enlisted in the Air Force 7 months after high school. My draft lottery came up as number 11 so one way or another I was going.
Twenty two. I had a crap job and couldn’t afford to move out. So I joined the Air Force and never looked back.
This was 1977.
Great story... I guess I never thought much about how different it was back then. My mother did much the same... she moved out when she was 15. She moved to the city to live with her niece (who was actually the same age). She went back to High School for a short time, but... married my father before she finished.
18 plus 10 days in 1969. Isn’t that what everyone did back then?
Family house is 12,500 sq ft not including the basement, three car garage, off street parking for ten, four entrances, four and two half bathrooms, etc, etc.
Rule was you could stay if you were going to school or well employed and saving for a house. Beyond the rule, you also had to fix the roof, the electric, the plumbing, the appliances, the boiler, the wall paper, etc, etc.
Ever see Doctor Zhivago?
Graduated High School at 17, got married and never looked back.
Graduated HS in ‘74, went to community college for 2 years (lived at home), went away to college (visited home), found my wife, lived with her for 4-5 years, we moved back into my father’s house for another 2 (he was divorced by then), saved enough for a down on a house, was out for good by 27.
So I guess I was a late starter. Sue me.
Sure seems that way.
The distance from home was one of the factors in selection of a college. I was fortunate to be selected for a 4 year ROTC scholarship, so I had roughly 300 options.
Gonzaga (Spokane, WA) seemed to be a good fit: small school, good reputation, and 900 miles from home. I was doubly fortunate that there were no family problems, I got along great with my mom and stepfather. I knew that I needed to get out in order to mature.
During my junior year, my stepfather retired and moved to a small town in Oregon. After college, I went in the Army for 8 years, and stayed in El Paso.
My daughter, now 26, is more like me. She found her own apartment after her sophomore year. My 24 YO son is content to live rent free while publicly proclaiming his plans to move out. To put it mildly, it's a major bone of contention with my better half. I've learned to fight the battles that are winnable.
It may not be fair, but when I was his age, I had commanded 3 platoons in Germany. To be living at home at that age was unthinkable to me.
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