Free-range adults
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Jamie Gardner
That time has finally arrived. After 25 years of raising children, Amy and I are now officially empty nesters. It’s time to party! Only problem is, we may be a little too old to party (I can hear Father Time laughing in the background and saying, “Don’t break a hip”).
Seriously, prior to having our two sons, Cole and Jacob, Amy and I enjoyed five years of traveling around doing whatever we wanted to, like water skiing until sunset on many afternoons with good friends at Lake Mayers or jumping in a vehicle and just going to the beach. Then came Cole. This little thing scared me to death, but somehow, I knew our family was now becoming complete…well, almost. Jacob came along five years later, and again, I felt like our family was certainly complete. My uncle, Carl Jones, once asked if I’d swap anything in the world for my boys. He got a resounding “NO!”
It seems like Amy and I do things in five-year increments. Dated five years prior to marriage. Waited to have children for five years after we got married. Five years between Cole and Jacob. Now, 5×5 = 25 years later, here we are.
Cole is nearing completion of his renovated home and decided last Sunday that he was moving in. We only have a couple small projects to finish inside and out. He has worked hard and can be proud of his first house. It really is nice.
After this past fall football season, Jacob returned home from Clinton, South Carolina, and told us he was tired of his body hurting. He had sustained some serious injuries playing collegiate football over the past two seasons. I’ve got to be honest; I was kind of relieved when he announced he was hanging up his football cleats. He decided he would transfer to Georgia Southern this semester to continue his quest for a business degree.
Jacob left this week for Statesboro. That means Amy and I are back to square one, with one exception. Amy’s beloved Boykin Spaniel, Bear. The boys and I know where we really rank, and of course, Bear is above all of us.
Amy and I now must learn how to do things like cook for two again. This will be hard as the boys can hide some food. As an example, how many pork chops should we lay out now? How much rice is too much? How much pizza do we order now? It is going to be a learning curve.
As much as I am going to miss the boys being around the house every day, I am also somewhat excited. Amy and I can start back traveling a little and doing things we love. Not sure we will be shutting down Lake Mayers anytime soon, but I’m sure we will find some new hobbies and things to do. Our workload has certainly increased over the past few years with the creation of Gardner Printing Services, so work will probably consume much of our free time. Thank you to this community and the surrounding communities for your support of our businesses.
We have tried to instill the tools needed so our boys can face this world head-on. Hopefully, and prayerfully, they have the skills they need.
One last thought…we are not empty nesters, we are parents of free-range adults, lol. Suggestions welcomed for parents of free-range adults.
