The definition of “Army Brat” is as follows: the child of an army officer or enlisted person, esp. one who has grown up on army bases or in military communities. I have a shorter definition for you: Jacob Matthews.
1989 was a good year for Seth Matthews. It would be the first time that in his Air Force career he was going to be transferred out of the United States and to the Europe, more specifically, the RAF Croughton, located in Northamptonshire, England. That and he was just promoted to Staff Sergeant, so life seemed to be smiling down on the twenty-five year old. It was his first weekend that he had off since arriving, and what better way to spend it than taking his weekend pass and going to London to explore the sights and sounds? He couldn’t think of anything else that seemed remotely interesting, and he wasn’t too keen on staying on the base during his first weekend free in a brand new country, so he hopped on the bus, bags packed, uniform on and started on the short drive to London.
A Key West native, Seth enlisted in the army right after college, much to his parents dismay. They didn’t want their baby boy (and only child) to be running off and playing with guns, having to go off to war (if it happened, and given the countries tendency, it was a large possibility), and being far away from their protective eye. Seth’s parents were a bit on the overprotective side, but who wouldn’t be for their only son, their pride and joy, their baby? Which was part of the reason why Seth wanted to get out of Key West and become his own person. His first step was to actually go away to school - which he did. He relished in the experience, the dorming, the people, the freedom, and it was in college that he decided he wanted to enlist in the army, more specifically, the Air Force.
But this beginning isn’t about Seth Matthews, this is the beginning of Jacob and we can’t have that beginning without the infamous first meeting. It was on accident of course, Seth meeting the love of his life. Being his first time in London, he was a little too invested in taking in all the sights and sounds that the historic city had to offer him. It was as he was admiring the Tower of London and trying to snap a picture with a ratty old camera that he bumped into her. A 19 year old, 5’5” blonde native with the most brilliant set of blue eyes that he had ever seen. It was an instant attraction for Seth, and when you would ask Abigail Brenner later on in life, she would say the attraction was definitely mutual. Abigail, as it turned out, was also on a small weekend holiday with a friend that was going to University, trying to convince Abi (as she was known to her friends) to get out of the small village that was King’s Sutton and make something of herself. Turns out, that day would be a turning point in her life, and not because she decided to enroll in school.
The weekend started off like any other, light flirting, getting to know one another. They spent both days just going out and talking and enjoying each others company. They made promises to keep in touch, he giving her his address to write to him, but neither thought that they would see each other again. That is until they both boarded the train Sunday night. You see, King’s Sutton is practically a stones throw away from the RAF Croughton, and now...the whole prospect of seeing each other more often became very real, and after the conversation on the train - they both wanted to see more of each other.
Flash forward to a year and nine months later and we have Jacob Matthews coming into the world screaming on September 30, 1990. Abi and Seth ended up getting married (despite the large age difference), and almost as soon as the ring was on her finger, they found out she was pregnant. They were all too happy to welcome Jacob into the world, as well as Abi’s family and all the other recruits at the RAF base. They were able to settle in for a year and a few months after that, but then the word was given that he was to move to another country and another base, and thus started the only constant in Jacob’s life: moving. Abigail expected this when she agreed to marry Seth, the moving. Seeing that she was born and raised in such a small town, she was realizing one of her dreams by being able to see the world. Granted, it wasn’t how she had planned, but she was happy to finally get out and see the world, and she was glad that her son was able to experience these things at such a young age.
Travel had it’s perks. First words in Italy, first steps in Panama, you were able to grow up with a different backdrop every few years. Although the first few years he didn’t see much outside the army bases his father was stationed in, unless it was out with his mother. Soon enough though, he was assimilated into whatever culture he was put in when he started school. It was hard for him at first, and even at a young age he was determined not to be the awkward loner in all of his classes so he taught himself (with the help of his mother and friends of the family on the bases) whatever language for whatever country he was in. Granted, some languages were harder to learn than others (It took him all of his three years in Japan just to grasp the basics of their language) but he was persistent. By the time he had moved to Florida, he had lived in 10 different cities including: Croughton, England, Ansbach, Germany, Tokyo, Japan, Brunssum, the Netherlands, Seville, Spain, Aviano, Italy, Los Angeles, California, Dover, Delaware, Honolulu, Hawaii, Azores, Portugal and that doesn’t include the places that he had gone on holiday with his mum; as well as speaking 7 different languages under his belt: Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, and Dutch.
As Jacob grew older, he realized that he was able to easily get involved socially with the children of the schools in whatever country he was currently in. He had a fear of being the new kid and no one liking him, so he learned a universal language that any child could understand: laughter. It wasn’t hard to make people laugh, he realized, and apparently, he had a knack for it. So with the start of a new school, he would always be the one that would make people laugh before he fell into his niche. Early on he learned that with every move, he had a chance to do what most people would kill to do in their lifetime: reinvent himself. Sure, parts of him could never change; the fact that he had the desire to belong somewhere, the part that wanted to make people laugh, to name a few. But he was able to change who he was with every city he stepped in. From shy and brooding, to loud and eccentric, he felt that he covered all the personality bases in such a short time frame. Of course, he would let the occasional person see who he truly was, but even then, he didn’t know if that was himself. He had changed so many times he was starting to lose who he was and was having trouble on who he should be.
When Jacob was told that he was going to be moving to Florida, it was just another place to add to his “places I have lived” list, and he was going about it in the usual way, calm indifference. But this time, this time was going to be different. As the boxes and bags were being packed, the news finally came to light: Abi was pregnant with her second child. Jacob didn’t know how to react to it, to be perfectly honest. He knew the right reaction was supposed to be happiness - which he conveyed - but it was going to be weird not being the only child anymore, and having to share his mother’s affections. This news always brought another change to his life. The move to Florida wasn’t going to just a few years, it was going to permanent. As much as her mother had enjoyed the traveling, she wanted to have her brand new addition grow up in a stable environment, and his father agreed. So upon moving to Florida, his father went to the Air Force base in Tampa and mother and son moved to Key West to live with Seth’s parents - Jacob’s grandparents.
At first, he was a bit startled by the move and the fact that it was going to be permanent. Who was he going to be if he wasn’t going to be leaving in a few months time? Now was a time to reassess himself and figure out who he was. Figure out who the real Jacob was. Only a few months in to the move, and starting his final year of high school, he still hasn’t figured it out yet, but he’s trying. And really, isn’t that the most important thing a person can do?
schedule
1 european history
2 ap english lit and comp
3 calculus
4 psychology
5 french iv
LUNCH
6 phys ed
7 anatomy and physiology
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