Empty Nesting!

As of February 21, one week ago, my husband and I became official empty nesters. I have struggled to describe this experience because of the wide range of emotions. I’ve been on highs and lows and everything in between. Our youngest son left to serve a voluntary church mission for Jesus Christ. He will be gone for two years and though he was active in school clubs, teams and with friends, he actually liked hanging out with us, his parents…so we are really missing our third wheel.

The first couple of days, the house was eerily silent. My husband teaches Criminal intelligence classes at our local high school so he is gone during the day and depending on my son’s work schedule, he would be in and out…so the quietness struck me pretty hard. This is an unusual statement to make as a writer. We are ALWAYS looking for that moment of quiet when we can compose and structure and imagine what a specific scene is like without all the extra distractions, but I didn’t even write the first couple of days. I finished packing up his room and watched Netflix haha, but sometimes we just need those moments to process change. However, the story doesn’t end there…We are officially downsizing and made the decision to move to Texas and help our daughter in law with our three granddaughters while our oldest son is deployed overseas for a year. Since my own husband was deployed nearly ten years in Iraq and Afghanistan, I know what it is like to raise a family at home in this situation and we wanted to be there for her.

So there it is Y’all…We are excited about this new adventure and what awaits us in Texas…hopefully its the excellent BBQ, new friends, and exploring new and unique places!