this empty nest thing is very interesting. you spend 20 years raising kids to get ready for the world and then one day they are gone. you come home after dropping them off at college and the first thing that you do is cry like a baby. you cry because your life of the last 20 years has changed significantly – in what seems like an instant. it feels like a death in the family. the person is gone – time to clear out the food, the clothes, etc.
you devote so much of your time and energy into other people’s lives that it seems like a moment of shock when you don’t have to do that anymore. you suddenly realize that you have moved back into an earlier phase of your life – the life before kids. but this time you are 20-30 years older and you have become dependent on your dependents!
so what do you do when the tears dry up? many people keep crying and seem to go into mourning for some time. they can’t handle it – they want to have their old life back – when there were more people around the house – when life seemed more alive -when you were needed more by other people.
others jump for joy – freedom is finally here! – let’s go! let’s travel! let’s do whatever we want! we all eventually get to this feeling but sometimes it takes awhile. you have to reset your mind, you have to reset your habits, you have to reset your routines – and you have to get used to living with your spouse again – one on one.
at the end of the day, this is just another phase in life and like all phases – we must learn to adapt to the new phase. we must move forward and embrace this new empty nest phase. we must not look back – we must look forward and enjoy the life we have left.
