Entering into the empty nest years can really send us girls into a tailspin, even when we think we’ve got it all together!  When you’ve overlapped the majority of your parenting years as the primary caretaker of two grandmas, it comes as a double whammy when it all wraps up at the same time.  In what seems like the blink of an eye, you go from traveling at light speed to stopping on a dime.  And, despite the fact that you’ve prayed for relief, I’ve learned that you are never really ready when the time comes.  I’ve also learned that there are choices to make…one can swallow you up in sadness and the other can open the door to new possibilities.  Possibilities seem like the more appealing option!

And so here I am, a 50-something, transitioning into a new season of life and wanting more than anything to learn from life’s gifts and challenges so that the years that lie ahead become content, intentional, and joyful years.  I share the experience with my husband of 31 years, Chris, who gracefully supports “my tendency to think too much” even though he doesn’t “get it”.  I am also the proud mom of two college-age sons, Matt and Blake (who bring joy to my heart just by walking in the door); a sometime-mom to Hank, Presley and Tucker (my favorite dog-sitting companions); and, a former caretaker of two grandmas (an experience that changed my life).

Like many moms and sandwich-generation caretakers, I got lost in the endless demands on my time.  Somewhere along the way, I put blinders on and forged ahead out of necessity…sometimes long past my point of overload.  I spent a lot of years going through the motions, and it’s been a long time since I really looked up and saw with my heart and my eyes the gifts a day has to offer.  This is my journey as I learn to live again with arms wide open, engaged and fully in the moment, and as I rediscover the long-forgotten call of my dreams.  I know I’m not alone, and I’m looking forward to sharing insights with the “sisters”  with whom I share this path.  I have no doubt that there is a grand journey ahead.