“Wow, we just hit the Command Strip motherload!,” I happily exclaimed as I turned the corner in Walmart.
The Command Strip center commanded (no pun intended) half the aisle and I finally found the ‘no tools needed to install’ wall broom holder I’d been searching for.
It was day 5 of our shopping spree to outfit my daughter’s unfurnished apartment in the Denver suburbs.
Our shopping list was a mile long and we were slowly working our way through the smaller items that day, having knocked out the used furniture shopping the day before.
Jill and I were exhausted. Don’t get us wrong. We are power shoppers just like my mom but even we were working on low power mode by this day.
Andrew and I turned my daughter’s move to Denver into a cross country road trip stopping in Nashville, St. Louis, and Kansas City, Missouri along the way. A more fun trip I cannot remember.
Alas, ten days on the road and I’m a gonna make it home tonight. [Cue the Dave Dudley country song, although his trip was only six days. Wimp.]
The empty nest syndrome is really starting to hit home with Jill’s relocation. She started her full-time job yesterday. No more guaranteed school breaks or hopping in the car to come home for the weekend.
We said a tearful goodbye to one another last evening when she dropped me back off at the Air BnB I had rented.
I find it curious that I am sad at all given that I’ve always wished for my children to find their own way in the world away from their parents.
I used to tease them that their dad and I had found our “great place” after school and that they need to find their own “great place” as well so we could come visit them.
Our son is home for the summer working a remote internship but then he’ll ship off to Latvia and Russia to study abroad for his junior year of college.
Then it’s really gonna be quiet in our house.
Change. It can be exciting but also scary because it’s difficult to turn away from the familiar.
The thing I’m most looking forward to coming home to Pensacola is the Pensacola Bay Bridge reopening. Hallelujah! No more leaving the house before the sunrise each morning.
So long as my daughter continues to stay in touch with me via texts and the occasional phone call, I think I’ll adjust just fine to her being a plane ride away.
I’ll just pretend she’s still away at school.
Kristen “I Left My Heart in Colorado” Marks
P.S. If you’ve had a major life event happen to you recently, it might be time to review your current estate plan. You can schedule a review consultation with us by either phoning the office or scheduling with us online. 850-439-1191
