Empty Nest

Full in Slave Lake

 

My situation never seems quite right. When I’m in Slave Lake, I miss Buddy and Princess. When I’m in Calgary, I miss The Consultant.

Whenever I start feeling the “empty” in empty nest, it usually takes a trip to Calgary to visit with my kids, family and friends in order to make it all better. I drive to the city, fill myself up then take all that fullness back to Slave Lake, where I dump myself out through my writing.

Living this lifestyle is an adjustment, for sure. Sometimes I get so caught up in my own feelings that I forget it’s not all about me. The Consultant’s nest is empty too. Although he doesn’t display it to the world, like I do, he misses our kids.

So, he was as excited as I to hear Buddy and Princess were making the trip up to visit. Several times before their arrival, he mentioned how much he was looking forward to seeing them. I realized that The Consultant hadn’t seen either of the kids since May.

Friday evening of the August long weekend, about an hour before their arrival, we received this video via text message –

 Sibling Road Trip.

Buddy and Princess were playing right into our excitement. They know us so well.

When they finally arrived we had all the hugging and smiling with all of us talking at once that happens when family comes together. I loved the look of joy that was pasted on The Consultant’s face from then until their departure on Monday afternoon.

A Little Golf Club Maintenance Before the Match
A Little Golf Club Maintenance Before the Match

He isn’t used to having them all to himself anymore. He took off to golf with Buddy and swam in Lesser Slave Lake with Princess. It was just like the good old days.

A Visit in the Cool, Clear Water
A Visit in the Cool, Clear Water

There were many moments each day, when I stood back and watched from a distance, as though I wasn’t part of it – filling myself with their joy.

For three perfect summer days, all felt right with the world – the four of us under one roof again, laughing, relaxing, sharing meals. It was hard to watch them drive away.

See You Before Long. We Had a Blast!
See You Before Long. We Had a Blast!

But as I write this, I’m sitting up here in Slave Lake feeling extra full. I thought I’d better empty a little by sharing the August long weekend in my post today.

How do you fill yourself ?

As a mother of two grown children, I am transitioning through the empty nest and embracing my writing life. My desire is to connect family by sharing legacy stories and my hope is that I inspire you to do the same. Together with my children, we venture into new lives, full of optimism and excitement!

12 Comments

  • janstring

    Hi Kath,

    I think this is one of the parts of being human I enjoy the most, being able to feel my joy at others feeling joy! If that makes sense. Having kids allowed me to connect with that part of myself. Knowing told me it would feel as good as it did watching someone else enjoying life – as it does to enjoy it myself.

    Great to see your kids! Brought a lump to my throat at their leaving – all at the same time. What I’ve realised is that having a full life or filling up my life doesn’t mean that I will miss those I love. I think it just makes it a little easier on me – if I can feel my own sunshine, as that helps nurse the rain.
    Inside I feel ‘filled’ after longterm travel with my family and being the kind of mother I choose to be. Now I find that it’s the external void where I need to spend some time working on!

    • My Life After Kids (Kathi Ostrom)

      Traveling as a family is ideal. I know how much you love those opportunities. Another time I get that feeling of joy from watching is at Christmas. When we have our big family gatherings I love to sit back and listen to all the excitement. It makes me smile. 🙂

  • Dottie

    You have such a wonderful family and a great life with them. I am so glad for you. You posed an interesting question. What fills me up? Suddenly, I think I have a glimmer of recognition of what I need. I think I’m often running on empty. I need to find what will fill me up. That will be something to keep me busy thinking about and figuring out. Thanks!

  • Zehra Naqvi-Sajjad

    You have such a wonderful family and you are an amazing wife and mother. It makes me happy to see you all happy together. Your blog is my favourite, because it’s so simple and unpretentious. And almost poetic. And yes, because I can see the future through you, I can feel things that I probably won’t feel for several decades, and I can feel good about being your age one day! Wish I could be just as lovely and graceful as you are!

    • WordPress.com Support

      Wow, Zehra. I am truly humbled by your comments. And I’m still enjoying your posts. Wouldn’t it be fun if we could meet in person some day?

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