And a new life phase ushers in…
My daughter and new son-in-law moved out today. I had worked all night on a large music project which ended around 1 pm when they had already moved out most of their heavy items, so I missed out on snapping move-out-day photos. Now it’s evening and they’re gone, off to their new marriage and new life and first home together. I so vividly recall that incredible feeling of freedom when I moved out from my parents’ home. It’s different being on the “parent” end. I’ve now, just now, joined the ranks of the “empty nesters.” Somehow that connotation of the “empty nest” seems so final, so sad, so… empty.
But yet, being a parent whose kids have grown and moved on, there are elements of freedom and excitement in addition to the sadness of a closing era.
Looking over my life, I have adored being a mother to my daughters; it’s one of my most favorite things in life: parenthood. And I’m still their Mom, always will be; that hasn’t changed. I’ll still have the worries and concerns and joys and laughter with them – but it’s different when they don’t live here anymore.
I’ve got a wonderful husband, a good marriage (one that’s long enough that we can now laugh at all the things that used to make us so angry; definitely a good place to be in..), and I’ve got a continually blossoming career. And I’ve got lots of friends and family who I rarely see, as I’m usually so busy with the career or with my kids, who I now plan to visit …. And there’s this & that I can do, and who I can do it with, and we’re planning changes to the house as now we’ve got 2 newly empty bedrooms, and…and…and
So, I’m awake this evening when I should be sleeping, awake because of the stillness of the house, the hush where the kids’ presence used to be. I’m getting a sense of freedom, that same freedom that I felt when I moved from my mother’s home – that freedom of adventures waiting to be journeyed, that freedom of “life is what you make it,” that freedom of, well, I’m still here, I’m okay, and how shall I now shape my tomorrow?
An era has come to a close, and a new one begins. And I’m excited…..
