Jake's last weekend at home spent water skiing. He has so much personality!
Jake's roomates:
A recent screen shot of Jake that I took while we were facetiming and he was showing me his room.
So, I've been meaning to write about this for a while. Jake left college mid-August. Two months have already passed and the house is DEFINITELY quieter. Brad and I are officially empty nesters. How does that feel? Different. We have been raising children since May of 2000 when Jordan was born. 26 years of busy... protecting, caring, teaching, working to get these kids to a place where they can be successful. Parenting is a meaningful, yet demanding job when the kids are infants, toddlers, pre-teens and teens. You have purpose. Your purpose is them. There is no time for you and very little time for we. You work to help them develop confidence and skills so they can go forth and experience life and success. Yet, when they do...you look around and wonder what you are to do now. At least I feel that way. So I'm learning and filling my days and time with things. Like, I'm taking piano lessons again, making a goal to write every day and trying to learn to crochet. Brad is joining ski clubs to make new friends, he's dirtbiking with just his friends (no kids?) he's tying flies and planning fly fishing trips again and reading. We have so much more time. Oh, and we can focus on the "we" again. It's time to reestablish that initial connection that brought us together to take on this life with each other, to redevelop our relationhip without the stresses and complications that teenagers and children add. Don't get me wrong here. Brad and I LOVED being parents, even with all the pains it brought, we would do it all the same if given the choice, but finding purpose without them IS nice. We are in another season. It seems a little like the fall...a slower pace with the ability to stop and appreciate life a little more than you have. I'm feeling the beauty of my fall now.
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