Amy Reichman Reeves poses with her husband, Cary, and sons Nate (left) and Max. (Amy Reichman Reeves)
PCS season has a new anthem.
It’s sung to the tune of “Be Our Guest” from “Beauty and the Beast,” but it focuses on the unique challenges of military moves. Amy Reichman Reeves found inspiration for the song during the process of her family’s move from Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
“We've all heard the overplayed refrain, ‘You knew what you were signing up for,’” she said via Messenger. “And it's true — moving every couple of years is not surprising. But unpacking a box five months later and finding the contents of your garbage can individually wrapped in paper? Watching the movers literally toss your nightstands down the stairs? That's surprising.
“I think finding camraderie in the sometimes maddening and always surprising military lifestyle makes it all go down a little easier. If you don't laugh about it, you'll cry about it, and even better, you'll find a tribe to do both with you.”
Her mildly profane take on the process, which begins with the line “PCS, PCS, put your marriage to the test,” has struck a nerve on social media, where her video has racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
“While my mother and spouse frown upon the fact that half a million people have now listened to me curse on the internet, my favorite line is ‘Where'd we get all this ‘stuff,’ let's just throw it in a ditch.’ Because I have truly pondered just lighting all of my belongings on fire and starting over every single move.”
But that’s not the plan right now for her and her spouse, their 8- and 5-year-old boys, and their two big dogs. They’re powering through that move.
“My spouse is a major pack rat, and I am, by nature and through military experience, more of a minimalist, and I just cannot fathom how or why we have acquired so many things,” she said. “And when I see a box we never even unpacked from our last move, I'm about ready to just throw it all in a ditch. But nope, let's tossit in the truck, put it in a new garage, and argue about it again in 2 years! It's a PCS tradition!”
