By Portia Williams
Among the many facets of life is one which many refer to as the ‘empty nesters’ phase. It is the phase in which a parent or parents reach when all of their children have graduated and or left from home to begin their own personal journey of life. As of Aug. 19, 2015, my husband Mark of 22 years and I are officially empty nesters. On Aug. 19, we loaded two vehicles, our SUV and our sons car and headed down US 52 East, destination Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. where our only son, Micah will begin his educational pursuits as a Business major. As a mother, it is a very emotional time, and yes I have cried, and probably will continue to do so off and on. Micah is the youngest of our three children, our daughter Pajah is our second born, and is a junior at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio, and our daughter Jori who is the oldest is a senior, and is also at Marshall University. On being a parent I must say, next to being married, there is no greater responsibility in life. At times it can be a daunting task to raise children, as parents we are responsible for their overall well being, to feed them, clothe them, and keep them safe. We must also teach and instruct them, wipe their tears when they cry, infuse good, solid values into their thinking, teach them about God and the Holy Bible, how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to educate them, and make sure that they are educated properly, help them discover their purpose, their gifts, to become productive citizens in this world, and the list goes on. I have been asked by many, what will we do now that the children are out of the house? Well, lets see, there are so many possibilities, right? Above all, in between our work schedules, we now have more time to enjoy one another’s company, and that is something that I am looking forward to with great anticipation. I think that my husband and I will transition into the empty nester zone just fine. My personal goal is to do my part to take our marital relationship to heights that it has yet to experience, to gain a deeper understanding of who my husband truly is, and to express more love with a deeper intimacy. On a lighter note, I will not miss these words for a very long time, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” I am sure that for a while we will frequent restaurants, some of the places that we have not taken time to visit in times past. I speak for my husband to say that we both feel so very blessed to have raised three children, and to have all three of them attending college, and most importantly, that all three of them are Christians. God has truly been good to my family, and I give him the credit and glory for getting me, my husband and children to this point in our lives.
Reach Portia Willams at 740-353-3101, ext. 1929, or on Twitter @PortiaWillPDT.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
