Tuesday, May 29, 2018

New Chapter

Hope you all had a good weekend and Memorial Day. I spent yesterday helping my newly-minted-college-graduate son (see previous entry for pics of that!) move into his new apartment. He is now living about 30 minutes west of us, close to where he will be working. He found a nice, new apartment building. It kind of has an industrial feel in the hallways of the building, but the interior is nice and modern. Wide hallways, high ceilings. He chose well.

I forgot to take any pictures! We were too busy carrying and putting together furniture. But we got it almost all done and now he just basically has some boxes left to unpack and to settle in. He still has a few weeks to do so before starting his new job. So all-in-all, a good day for us as we begin a new chapter in our lives.

I suppose all parents go through it, but now we have a house much too big for what we need! Five years ago, we moved into a larger house, primarily because we needed a dedicated space for my father who was moving in with us. He stayed with us for about three years before beginning to need more care than we could provide. So he moved to a Memory Care place very close to us. We still go see him every day, but he is no longer in our house. I was able to move my study/office from the basement up to the room he used to occupy.

Now with my son moved out, another room has freed up. My college-aged daughter is also mostly out of the house, having an off-campus apartment where she spends most of her time, even when school is not in session. We've kept her room largely in tact, but soon it will be open, too. So, we can set up a guest room or two, or maybe now move my wife's desk up from the basement into one of those rooms for her office. That might be nice for her.

We'll still get to see our son every week (or mostly) in church - that'll be nice. And we still have our youngest daughter home for six more years before she is ready for college - that'll help keep us young! :-)

Some people say changes like this are sad - and I guess they are a little. When I see pictures of my kids when they were little and remember those days, there's a twinge. But these are good days, too. Happy days, proud days, to see your children grow and mature and become their own person. And I look forward to seeing how my son continues to grow and develop and become his own man in the future. His apartment and furnishings are already much nicer than mine were starting out! :-)

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