The View From The Empty Nest

 The pre wedding parties have begun.  Yesterday was the first bridal shower, thrown by my daughter in law and her best friend, at my house because they live 200 miles away.  We played Bridal Jeopardy and ate waffles.  The beautiful bride got water filters, towels, sheets, kitchen stuff, to go with the number of things she has already packed up and shipped to her fiance on his military base, 1700 miles away.   I remember when she started school and I cried because I missed her during the school day.  I kept it to myself, she never knew.  I am having a hard time keeping this one in.  The tears are so close to the surface all the time.  She is strong, she is brave and she can do this.  I don't know if I can.

 We are now less than 30 days from the wedding, I think 29 to be exact and my brain, that does such a good job of compartmentalizing things I don't want to think about has stopped working.  That is, has stopped compartmentalizing.  Last Sunday my brain decided that I could no longer block out the fact that my kiddo is about to move 1700 miles away.  My goodness, the tears that thought brought!  I had my first ever anxiety attack the next day.   I think we have a handle on the wedding, bridal shower #1 is this weekend.  The logistics of the wedding and reception aren't worrying me all that much.  However, the thought of  the newly married couple loading up a Honda Civic and making the 30+ hour journey in around 48 hours scares me.  The thought of her being so far away scares me.  The idea of not seeing her at least every few days scares me.   I have always been the strong one.  I never cried that easily, I could k...

 Hi!  I am a 48 year old woman in a tiny rural town.  I have been married to my high school sweetheart for just over 25 years and for 18 of those I was a stay at home mom. My oldest child got married a month ago and my baby girl gets married in 6 weeks.  My nest is about to be empty and I am not sure where to go next.   We are heavily in the midst of wedding planning, My daughter is getting married in 6 weeks (we're doing everything ourselves)and departing to the far coast the next day, as the boy who stole her heart is a United States Marine.  My son and his new bride live 200 miles away, so my nest will soon be very, very empty Except for my dogs,     Georgia and Annie are my sweet pups, who keep me company in all that I do.   I don't know where I am going from here, but walk with me a while, maybe we can learn together.