I left my oldest son in Texas in July, while I followed behind my youngest as the last vehicle in our 3 vehicle caravan to move all of our belongings from Garland, Texas to Columbus, IN. He stayed in Columbus for the next month and a half, living above my brother-in-law's garage, while Mike and I had our first taste of an empty nest. But since we were living out of an RV, it just felt like we were on an extended trip with different sleeping arrangements. The empty nest didn't really start to sink in until David drove back to Texas in the middle of August.
We bought our own piece of property to land the RV and then eventually cleared a space inside the house to reside while we renovated it. We'd officially set up camp in the living room by mid-October, with just enough usable space for the two of us. No furniture other than a full-size bed, a recliner, an outdoor egg chair, a fridge, two electric fireplace heaters, and some camping chairs.
And then I flew back to Texas in an emergency because David got into an accident that left him completely helpless. Three weeks later I flew back with David so we could help take care of his daily needs while he healed. Definitely not the empty nest we had envisioned. I guess God thought none of us were ready to live so far apart just yet. Thankfully Mike had finished renovating a small spare bedroom and moved the full-size bed from the living room to the spare room so David could sleep on the RV bed mattress on the floor of the living room for the next two months. Mike and his brother had also installed a wood burning stove in the living room and extended the back wall of that room in order to lengthen the master bedroom behind it, though it was still not usable or even ready for paint. I also now at least had countertops in my still unfinished kitchen.
With a third person, we needed more furniture, so we bought a couch, got some cubbies for clothes and our kitchen table and chairs out of storage. Our grocery bill went way up and our diet completely changed in order to appeal to a college student. So much for that empty nest. LOL. We went from life in Texas with two very independent sons who were gone more than they were ever home, to sharing a bathroom and a closet with a very dependent son who needed to be with one of us pretty much all the time and who needed transportation to doctor's appointments and then physical therapy appointments.
Although the constant dependence issue definitely made communication a bigger struggle in our marriage, I can't say I didn't enjoy having David around a bit longer than we ever would have imagined. Since Juan lived with us until he was 24 1/2 years old, David never did get that time alone with us that I always assumed he would when Juan was old enough to move out on his own. I guess this was that chance. I'll always treasure those extra two months with him that just happened to include his 21st birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas in 3 places, and New Year's Eve. (I'll always remember both of my boys' 21st birthdays. Juan got baptized out in a lake on his and David had two broken arms on his.)
But all good things must come to an end (for me), and he got his pins removed from his wrists on December 28th, did a week and a half of physical therapy before he drove himself to the second week of therapy. A week later, we put him on an airplane alone to fly back to Texas to go back to school. He's still got a lot of therapy ahead to regain all of his mobility, but at least he regained enough to go back to class and to take care of himself. I feel for him, though, because I'm sure his lack of full mobility is a lot more noticeable and discouraging when you're hanging out with your friends and not able to do everything you used to be able to do the last time you were with them.
A day after he left, we got more stuff out of storage to prepare the house for two very special guests who came the following day. Those guests just left today, almost a week later, and now the empty nest is will have a chance to hit home.
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