Transition Times

My family is transitioning right now, and I struggle with the changes.  My youngest child is graduating from high school and is currently the only child at home (this may be changing in the near future), and it feels odd and quiet in the house (and cleaner!). The years of raising children do go by very fast, although it often does not feel like that when you are in the midst of it.  I know they all still need me, even my oldest in NYC, but it's more an emotional need and not the day to day clamor of family life.

Being the youngest of 10, I never appreciated how difficult it was for my mother when I left home.  The good thing though is that she encouraged me to leave, even though it left her alone for the first time in her life, and she never really did make the transition well; she survived but did not thrive in her new role.

My husband and I have never been alone without children, and I see the changes in our relationship.  We are going to need to get used to being alone together and find more common activities to take up the place of all the family time.  I think we will thrive, but it feels a little scary at times.  Right now we are planning on doing more biking, traveling and gardening together.

I don't know how to shop or cook for just 2 people, so this will be another challenge for me. I certainly have more time for myself though and am enjoying reading again. And I am actually thinking about volunteer work, something I never felt I had time for before.  : )

I have older siblings whom are good role models for the transition to the second half of life- they are loving life, and the freedom and extra money that comes when there are just two of you!  And they also seem very connected to their adult children and grand-kids 

We still have the college years ahead of us which will bring adventure and challenges, and I know that we will always be a family, even if we don't live in the same house, same town or same state. : )

“Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother's approval, a father's nod - are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.” 

― Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven