The Empty Nest
“I’ve learned that money and possessions don’t bring happiness. It’s the act of loving and receiving love from people that fills your heart with gladness and your soul with peace. ”
The Story Behind This Story
January 2019, when my fourth child turned 36 … it was a pivotal moment for me. How could I have a 36-year-old when I was just that age such a short time ago? It was a time to reflect back and look forward at the same time. The nest was empty now...or was it?
Dirt Farmer Maggie, March 2021
The Empty Nest
Today my fourth child turned 36. I remember when I was 36. Jay and I had been married for two years, after blending our 5 kids together. We were living in Tucson, Arizona and our youngest was only five years old. It’s hard to imagine that so much life has passed since those days. So much has changed.
When I was 36, I never would have thought I’d live in Utah someday, nor that I would have enjoyed a 20-year career or that I’d be a grandmother of 16 by age 62. I never dreamed that so many lessons would have been learned, so many opportunities explored, so many trials completed and so many mistakes made. If I were 36 again, and I knew what I know now, I would be afraid for the future. I would cringe at the thought of the deep trials that lie in wait for me – some self-imposed, some out of my control. But God protects us from that foreknowledge because He knows that we can only bear the troubles of today.
“I never dreamed that so many lessons would have been learned, so many opportunities explored, so many trials completed and so many mistakes made.”
Now all those child-rearing years are behind me. Now I am Grandma and a mother figure to younger men and women in my life and my community. 26 years is a lifetime between 36 and 62. Everything changes and everything stays the same. My children are grown with children of their own yet I’m still mom – still privileged to receive their love, to listen to their problems, to be their friend, and to enjoy my new-found status in the world.
I’ve learned that money and possessions don’t bring happiness. It’s the act of loving and receiving love from people that fills your heart with gladness and your soul with peace.
We are now retired, and what society calls “empty nesters”. But while it’s true – it is just the two of us here, our nest is far from empty. It’s filled with leftover memories of the last 30 years together and current memories in the making. It’s a busy life filled with family who have become friends and new friends who have become family - with extended family, kids and grandkids, with sorrows, joys and challenges, with acquaintances, neighbors and co-workers – all busy navigating through the common occupation we all have called LIFE.
And that, my friend, is not empty at all.
