I'm experiencing what a lot of retired people experience just after Christmas or New Year's Day when their kids leave for wherever they live. I miss my kids being here and next year my youngest likely will be off to college somewhere too as she has applied to at least 10 colleges from California up through Oregon and into Washington. So, likely by next year this time it will even be worse.
I went through the empty nest syndrome last during the early 1990s and it was one of the factors that broke up my ex-wife and I about 20 years ago now. Luckily, I met someone and remarried and survived this breakup and had another daughter. So, now I'm 65 with 3 biological kids, 2 stepkids and 2 God Daughters. So, I have been raising one child or more continuously since my girlfriend first got pregnant in 1973 and my son was born in 1974.
So, basically I have been raising kids non-stop for 40 years at this point. I guess I should consider myself lucky to put off being in an empty nest this long.
I remember being 10 to 15 and thinking to myself just how impossible adulthood would be without a good wife and children. So, my goal was never to get married, marriage was just something I would have to do so I could have children and be able to raise them to adulthood. I thought that raising kids would keep me young and young thinking. However, I think many adults become teachers of grade school, Junior High or High School or even college for the same reason. And this might work for them.
However, I have been lucky enough to be raising kids and vacationing all over the world with my kids and sometimes their significant others as well. And I consider myself extremely lucky. By the Grace of God.
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