Give The Ones You Love Wings To Fly...Roots To Come Back...And Reasons To Stay
door when I open it to look at their babies, or the wind, or the rain. (or the snow for that matter this year!) It is their home and they are comfortable. I can't tell you if they are the same birds laying their eggs each year, or maybe they are even the birds that hatched there the year before, all I know is that they keep coming back. I can guarantee every spring I will hear them sing, watch them build and see them sit until their babies are hatched. This birdhouse has been hanging in our window for 17 years.17 years ago we moved into our home with a 1, 8, and 11 year old. In those 17 years I have watched our kids grow physically, emotionally, academically, and socially. I have carpooled, volunteered, traveled for sports, and have happily served more meals than I ever thought possible
In 2005 my youngest starts kindergarten, my middle starts middle school, and my oldest starts high school...All on the same day! This day was supposed to be, as most would call it, my first feeling of freedom, for me it was my first feeling of loneliness. I didn't know what to do with myself for 6 hours! Most would be struggling to get to the gym, get groceries, go for coffee, all before the carpool line started to line up. I think I was early for pick up and back home for the arrival of both the middle school bus and the high school bus!
2008~My hockey mom years...My youngest is well into hockey, my middle is still...well into hockey and My oldest graduates from high school. I thought to myself, this is going to be the hardest day ever, the day that she goes to college...and it was. I left her in tears, (not hers mind you) and I came home to our now family of 4 still at home.
2011~My youngest is still well into hockey, so Hockey life doesn’t change, my middle graduates high school and goes to college, (another tearful day on moms part) and My oldest is living a very happy life at college, all are working hard...No worries here, except for that one by one they are leaving our comfortable nest.
Let's go back to the empty nest thing for a minute...The next few years bring my oldest and her husband moving to Bahrain for a year, yes...Bahrain...for a year. I didn't do well with that. And on top of that, my middle joins the Air Force. Of coarse I am a proud Air Force mom, but come on...this only son of mine, who makes me laugh until I cry, keeps life on an optimistic note, and is always here for me, is leaving for a long time and I can't have any contact with him...as you can guess, I didn't do well with that one either.
But through all of these changes we have this little girl that we had later than we had planned, she is truly the best thing my husband and I ever decided to do. 7 years ago I would never had been ready to be an "empty nester..." which is now happening in a very unconventional way. Of coarse she is growing up, only one year left at home and then...Empty Nest? No, what are you thinking? The birds...they always come back.
Unconventional Empty Nesting Is A Blessing...
