Someone should have told me, five years ago, as I walked away from Russell Hall at the University of Georgia after dropping off my oldest son that Empty Nesting is awesome. Both of my boys have now flown the nest. One is fully independent (unless you count paying for insurance and cell phone) and one is away at college so neither are home much. My husband, Bob, complains every now and then that he barely sees me. Sorry, not sorry? 
Do I miss the days of our nuclear family all living under one roof? Kind of. Do I love these days where I get to prioritize my own wants, needs and desires? You bet I do! Who knew that I can be gone 5 nights a week and 2 on the weekend? I can even travel to do things that I want to do, not just for baseball tournaments. My tennis game has never been better and my list of things that I plan to do in 2024 keeps getting longer and more exciting.
For example:
- Bob and I sold our house and moved into a 1 bedroom apartment with our 2 labs. We’ve never been closer, which is true. We are building our dream retirement house. We (I) like to build houses. This might be my last one so I am leaving no stone unturned.
- We went skiing for Christmas over my frugal husband’s objection because who wants to have Christmas in our 700 square foot apartment? Not me.
- After Michigan beat Alabama and we returned from skiing, we went to watch Michigan beat Washington in the CFP, again over my frugal husband’s repeated objections. We won and he was glad we were in Houston to see it. Score one for Maggie’s Empty Nesting philosophy.
- I am halfway through courses to get my executive credentials via the International Coaching Federation so that I can pour into others. I haven’t even really announced this yet but God has sent a few people my way already. It is so affirming. I LOVE it. So grateful and blessed.
- I served as an ALTA (Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association) Coordinator for Sunday teams. Then didn’t re-up. That’s another fun part of this phase. You can try things and if they don’t bring you joy, do not rinse and repeat. Opt out. So I did. I admire those who do it. Just not for me.
- I started a blog and am actually blogging. You know this because you are reading the evidence. I have had thousands of people read my words already. WOW! This is bringing me massive joy.
- I have been asked to serve as a keynote speaker at a local Interfaith Prayer Breakfast on May 2nd. I could not be more proud. God is opening doors and I am sprinting through!
- I have rejoined, with gusto, our church, St. David’s, and signed up for a couple committees, am a reader and a Lay Eucharistic Minister which means I get to hold the chalice for members during communion. That is a big responsibility to not spill the blood of Jesus. (Thank you Bruce for trusting me, even if you don’t fully trust me yet. It’s okay. I’ll earn it.)
- This fall I am planning a reunion to host as many of my sorority sisters as our lake home will allow. I am so excited to reconnect.
- And then there is my book that I am writing, my life’s dream. I am almost to 20,000 words. It is writing itself because I have time and interest and energy. Wait for it this fall!
There is another piece of advice that I heard that has made Empty Nesting even better and that is “you can’t hook anything to the hearse”. It’s just a clever way of saying you can’t take it with you. Except for a little bit for our boys and a couple gifts for causes that are important to us, we plan to make sure that there isn’t much left for anyone to fight over and that we used it to have a good time because empty nesting is fun!