I’ve laughed, and I’ve cried. Laughing has got it over crying.
Glen Campbell
Since you don’t know me I will tell you that I am not a person who cries easily. Neither is my wife, we are both 50% old school Dutch with strong Christian Reformed heritages – so we are admittedly emotional Puritans. My best friend (now deceased) was about 15 years older than me. We both we had 3 daughters and I have fourth child – my youngest, a son. My friend and I met for lunch almost weekly for about 20 years. He went through all the developmental stages of parenting before me so his experiences were instructive. My friend was exceptionally close with his oldest daughter. When he dropped her off at her private out of State college he cried and cried. Later he told me this at our lunch and it surprised me. I am not sure why this revelation was so surprising – but like me, – he was just not much of a “crier”. He had been successful in the South Florida construction industry and it was not the kind of life where men were supposed to express their feelings. His confession made a big impression on me. I remember sitting at lunch so many years ago and wondering if I would cry as well when I dropped my daughter off at school some ten years later. Fast forward to the present. I was definitely happy and sad – more a mixture of feelings when I dropped off each child, but as I tell you more about later, when my wife and I were driving to orientation for our last child’s start of college – we both had a delayed reaction where the tears really flowed for both of us.
What about you? Did you cry or were more like the Glen Campbell quote – more into laughter and the joy of the moment? What were your emotional responses?
Empty Nest Experience 