We call ourselves "nearly empty nesters" because we are down to two at home. Raising our six kids to be independent and happy has been our goal. Who knew they would take the instruction literally and we would be left with hearts heavy with pride and pain. The pride is palpable. Each of our kids is uniquely their own person and truly live in their own skin. And yet together they are bonded with family experiences that have bound them together, for good and bad, with loud and oft times obnoxious laughter. The pain is one that lays heavy like a blanket left out overnight during a spring rain. It is one that comes after forgetting to take it indoors and you know it will lighten over time - to be used again to warm and protect. Where did the time go? We are driving our fourth to a college out of state. She independently took the reigns to make this college dream come true. She woke up this morning and gave us one more "Emily" moment, loudly worrying about the clock and the drive and the potential late arrival for registration. Our immediate family and her closest friends know and love these "Emily" moments--- she saves them for us because it is us she feels the most trust with and trusts us to love her when she lets off steam. Of course she is right to do so. Those "Emily" moments are what we will miss the most and yet can't pretend to miss when they are fewer and far between. When you leave your kids to begin their own chosen paths you end up with something you couldn't wait to have more of: Space. There is space in your home with doors open for return. There is space in your heart once you let go of the sodden blanket in its core. We have given our children the space to go and do and be and live. They have in turn filled up the spaces of our lives with joy and a wonderful feeling of anticipation for their future. In five minutes we begin unpacking our fourth and making her new space her own. The space in between our last hug and her new life is wide open. Our pride and pain mingle as we unpack her new blanket - appropriately a warm, dry comforter.
Posted via email from MoJoCMO
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