Two babies in 12 1/2 months meant two adult sons and suddenly a crowded house was empty. Son One was off working on a fishing boat so sometimes his dog lived with us, and one of his girlfriends had a two year old daughter that we got to practice our grandparenting skills on. Second Son had found a girlfriend in high school who was beautiful and brilliant and they both earned lots of scholarships so we’re off together at UC Santa Cruz. They came home for holidays but still . . .
Empty nest.
I found myself staring at a bare dining room table. The one I had dreamed of when it was buried under school books and fishing lures and mail. And just sobbing. Greg’s mom was sick, my mom was sick but both were thousands of miles from us being mostly cared for by siblings and nursing homes.
Getting time together to rediscover that we were still friends was incredible. We went to some shows and played board games. Ate way too much and a lot of that was out at restaurants because driving around and eating together was always our happy spots.
We still had the parrots and one of our cats and often the granddog but the time with just the two of us felt strange. Like an old comfortable pair of shoes you hadn’t tried on for a few years.
I personally love empty nest for ever so many reasons. It certainly has its mix of emotions. Then again, there was a crazy mix of emotions when kids (however old) were living there too.
