Like my colleague at My Pink Lawyer®, Amanda Lynch Elliott, whose oldest kiddo began kindergarten this Fall, I too am asking the same question about my kids, “How did we get here?”
Jill finished her fourteen-month backpacking trip around Europe after attending the Summer Olympics in Paris. She is now settled again back in Denver and starts her new job next week.
Meanwhile, my son is leaving today for his own 6+ months abroad. His itinerary makes my head spin.
And the best part? My children’s world travels were/are self-funded. Jill worked remotely during her travels to keep her bank account in the black and my son saved money to fund his wanderlust.
I am so proud of their independence and self-sufficiency. However, independence is a double-edged sword. The flip side is that their dad and I play a much-diminished role in their lives.
Now that I only see them twice yearly, I was super excited to spend ten days with my kids before saying goodbye to them yet again.
We are an SEC divided family. Jill graduated from the University of Alabama and my son graduated from the University of South Carolina. We had a family reunion of sorts at the Alabama/South Carolina football game in Tuscaloosa a couple weekends ago.
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Two days later, the kids and I rented a minivan, loaded our two cats, and drove them from Pensacola to Denver to live with Jill. Although we drove straight through, we still had plenty of time to chat, laugh, and play road games.
I then spent the rest of last week in Denver visiting with the kids, exploring, chilling, thrifting and, of course, eating!
But alas, all good things end. I flew home to Pensacola on Sunday with red-rimmed eyes and a box of tissues.
Saying good-bye to both of my kids and both of my kitties was tough.
Even though Andrew and I have our own exciting future to look forward to, change is difficult, not to mention inevitable.
Change in a family’s life, such as kids moving out and moving on, often warrants an update to one’s estate plan to stay current. After all, my kids no longer need guardians to raise them.
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I returned home to a quiet house. It’s now officially just Andrew and myself with even our cats re-homed cross country.
I suppose now is a good time to pivot my thoughts from “How did we get here?” to “Now that we’re here, what’s next?”
Kristen “New Chapter, New Story?” Marks
