Last Saturday was our Daughter,
Bethany’s, 24
th birthday. She had plans with her DH, so we celebrated it without her. Yes, we had a party the next day, but if you’re a mom, you know it’s not the same. We raised her to be independent and she is. We did our job - I just wasn’t expecting it to be so difficult. I promised myself I wouldn’t do
this. This grieving. I just didn’t understand the depth of an
empty nest.
Bethany moved out 6 years ago. That was rough. When my elderly MIL moved in with us, it helped some. But when our son also moved out, it felt like only ‘old people’ lived in our home and the liveliness was missing. With mom’s dependence on us, we don’t have the freedom I though an empty nest would bring. What a range of emotion. It’s been a difficult year, letting go of the kids, watching my MIL lose a little bit of herself each day and finding new directions in writing and ministry. I don’t do change well.
So Saturday, my DH asked me a loaded question, “What do you want to
do for lunch?”
“Ideally?”
“Yes.”
“I want to eat on the patio by a lake somewhere.”
“OK, let’s go.” Oh, my night in shining armor!
He still has the ability to take my breath away!
He took me to Ya Ya’s. It was a beautiful day; we watched the giant quoi and ducks in the man-made lake without a soundtrack of screaming kids. We talked about the day Bethany was born, about being grandparents and how awesome it is that our kids married well and are successfully traversing through life.
Suddenly a giant gust of wind whipped through the patio, knocking all the umbrellas over. Greg, knight in shining armor that he is, was so concerned about protecting me that another umbrella hit him square on the head (which he says is the hardest part of his body). We didn’t stay long after that.
In spite of the umbrella incident, it was a fitting celebration for a day that will always be one of the best days of my life.
