Empty Nest

My house will soon be a big empty nest.  My children will be 1800 and 3000 miles away.  What to do?

My daughter has been gone for a month already, and sometimes it feels as though I have a literal hole in the side of my body.  Something is missing. I ache! Then myy mind kicks in and reminds me that she is safe, she is working hard on projects that are important to her and I can talk to her on the cell almost any time.

Yet, there is a helpless feeling - a useless feeling when the child (now grown, of course) that you nurtured, enjoyed, planned for and worried over for so long, is far away and doing his/her own thing, largely without any help needed from you.

I told someone that I was managing by keeping busy.  She commented that I might be avoiding the inevitable grieving.  I don’t really think so.  I am keeping busy with my projects - the ones that mean a lot to me - the ones I plan to develop and work on from now until I’m too feeble to do so.  A long time, I expect.  I need my work, and I punctuate my grieving with it.  Yes, I weep or feel my eyes fill from time to time.  I think about the past and the future.  My connection with my children is woven in time and will continue.  For the present, I am also weaving a fabric that is my connection to other parts of the world, parts that don’t depend on my lovely children being present.

Baha’i

Belonging to the Baha’i Faith is central to my life and everything I do.  My world view derives from it, and it gives me comfort and optimism.

Hello

this is a test blog.  My hope is that women in recovery can use a tool like this to communicate with each other and to learn skills that will benefit them.