There Are Still Good Times To Be Had In 'The Empty Nest'!

Looking back over the last posts, I hope you have been able to keep pace with the ups and downs of my thought patterns, as I attempt to make sense of our lives since returning from France. In the previous blog, I advocate the 'empty nest' stage as the perfect time to find oneself a new direction in life. Indeed our three years in France achieved this perfectly.  What I didn't realise was that, as I found the answer to one life changing event, another was waiting in the wings!   

Losing my mum while living in France changed the dynamics of life once again.  Returning to France after her death, not only did I struggle to cope with losing the person who had been my best friend and support, but I soon became very aware that my eighty-three year old father was now 'home-alone' back in Ireland. When the 'empty nest' stage was almost solved, the problem of an elderly parent was the next challenge to be faced. As you will have gathered, we explored the possibility of moving dad to France, which proved to be rather like taking a fish out of water; eventually we gave in and moved our nest back to Ireland. The intention to return to France is always uppermost in our thinking, but with my husband's mother now widowed, we find ourselves with two elderly parents to consider.   

I am sure there are many of you out there who find yourselves confronted with both these scenarios.  It is a time in one's life when you need space to rediscover yourself, indeed to rediscover the person you have been married to for all these years! This becomes increasingly difficult, however, as life throws yet another spanner in the works, metaphorically speaking! 

Looking on the bright side of things, however, during this time of forced incarceration in the place of my birth, I have started my journey as a writer and, when I am not busy editing my book or searching for a literary agent, I find myself sharing a close relationship with my dad, as he increasingly demonstrates to me how to grow old disgracefully! In my next blog post, I must share with you the wonderful time we enjoyed, as we took him back to the place of his birth on the shores of Lough Mask in the West of Ireland, where we spent a magical night in Ashford Castle.  Yes, despite the hard, emotional ups and downs of every stage of life, there are indeed, always good times to be had!