Warning: Heavy Heart and Swollen Eye
LeAnn Wester Stephenson
It is with a heavy heart and a swollen eye that I tell you that after almost 16 years of being a parent, I am now unemployed - at least for the next 3 weeks. Yesterday, we took our two children, Olivia and Noah, to camp. Empty-nest is a word that I thought I wouldn't use in a sentence for at least a few more years, but, there it is. I'm not mourning the passing of having to pick up wet towels, or shuttle this one here and that one there, or even having to wash an article of clothing that was worn for approximately 5 minutes and placed on the floor. What I am missing are their laughs, their stories, their faces, their interaction with each other, and just their presence! We really like our kids, as well as love them. The Hubbs and I often stand in awe of the fact that together we produced someone so kind, funny, smart, talented, and beautiful, not once but twice. We don't take any of the credit, they pretty much came from the factory that way - and I'm only slightly biased, of course!
We are pretty tragic creatures during this 3 weeks each summer. We sit and stare at each other and try to remember what we did before we had children. We usually both end up saying something to the effect of, "I got nothin' - you?" Generally, we just acquiesce to ordering in and and choosing a dvd worth every cent of $1.08 at The Redbox. Sometimes, if we are feeling especially crazy, we add in a little adult beverage intake into the plan.
This morning I awoke to a "gi-normous" stye in my right eye. I was a lovely sight, my eye is completely swollen shut - think Quasimoto, a bee sting victim, or Rocky Balboa after a fight. The dehydration from swilling down too many Shiner Bocks, the toxic puffy eye and the half eaten remnants of Chinese take-out, screams "Pity Party" and makes me the portrait of excess. This leaves me in need of several things; a shower, a salad, and a treadmill. And, as soon as I locate my equilibrium, a new eye ball, and my "Happy Place", I will seek out those things immediately!
Oh . . . .wait - I just took out the right side of my body running into the door jam. Must lie down first.