I’m a yo-yo right now, feeling both fine and not fine as I drop my son, our second and final child, off at college. He stood before me recently, sporting the new suit we bought for him to take to college. I suddenly saw what everyone else has been seeing: a grown man. In the same instant I swelled with pride, I also ached. This is really happening.
Read in full on AARP Disrupt Aging.
“Using my phone’s speech-to-text feature in a recent exchange with a friend on the difficulties of the empty-nest season, I glanced down to check for accuracy before sending. My device transcribed “emptiness” instead of “empty nest.” Ironically, emptiness is exactly what many feel after their final child leaves home.”
Read in full on USA Today.
“Our leathered, weather-beaten landlord left fresh figs, tomatoes and lemons when he stopped by. He couldn’t speak English and we couldn’t speak Italian so we talked with our hands and figured things out. When we were walking to the beach one afternoon, we saw him zipping down the street—shirtless—in shorts and flip-flops on his Vespa. This was his life. He looked over the Mediterranean every day, from whatever point of town he happened to be in, his full head of hair flying in the wind. This old Italian man, with his figs, tomatoes and lemons and view was a rich man in many ways.”
Read in full on Paste Magazine.
Ann Arbor Family Press, thanks for having me! #love #marriage #teens#son #husband #relationships #habits #intentionality
Read in full here.
I’m on pg 12 in February 2017’s Sonoma Family Life with a letter to my teen son about #love and #marriage.
Grateful to be in Sassy Magazine this month. “What IKEA reveals about your Home and Marriage.” Pg 14.
“Tying the knot is the easy part; staying together requires some intentional habits.
Dear Teenage Son,
Today your dad and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary. It was a remarkable day since increasingly we see marriages that are falling apart. Tying the knot is the easy part; staying together requires some intentional habits and staying in love.
Well, that most certainly doesn’t happen by chance. Here are some things you may be unaware of that your dad has worked hard on to keep us together and in love over the years.”
Read in full: http://www.yourtango.com/2016287952/six-pieces-unconventional-marriage-advice-gave-my-son
The heartbreaking magic of a 24 year marriage.
Your birthday was fast approaching and you gushed to your husband that it was really something to be turning 45. He replied, “That was last year.”
Memories surfaced of your own parents doing the math when asked how old they were turning as a birthday approached. How such a simple question — how old are you? — required time to answer was inconceivable.
Now, you’re suddenly there, realizing that this dependable thing called “time” is performing its magic.
Read in full on YourTango.
If you can get through this, you can get through anything.
If you consider your family life healthy don’t test it by going to IKEA for the day, especially if you have recently moved overseas to an unfamiliar city such as London, with previous stops along the way in exotic-but-foreign places.
I’ve recently recovered from a family outing to a London IKEA after making just such a protracted international move. I’d prepared for our journey to IKEA well in advance, measuring every potential living and storage arrangement possible in our 900-square-foot flat.
Except for clothing and personal effects, we’d moved with nothing. Our flat was empty and a robust shopping trip was needed for items such as tomorrow morning’s cup for my American cup-of-coffee.
Read in full on YourTango.
Building a strong relationship with my husband and kids is like a major construction project–the effort and time are immense. I am unwilling to destabilize this structure with insensitive oversharing.
Every relationship is fragile. Take. Care.
Just released today on Sammiches and Psych Meds. *A variation of this essay was previously published on The Good Men Project.
http://www.sammichespsychmeds.com/sharing-online-moms-are-you-hurting-your-family/
kathrynstreeter.com 