Thanks for the encouraging words, both about the piece and about this season of life. My twenty-year-old wrote me the sweetest card for my birthday yesterday acknowledging this season, all the stretching out that this happening in our family but also that heart connection/tether than you mentioned. I can definitely see the invitation to allow the grief and also keep a lookout for joy as things change. In my experience, hurt and joy always thread together.
I'm not sure how I found your newsletter. It may have been a comment you left or a suggested follow of Substack, or some other accidental (or not) discovery. No matter though...I really love your writing, style and topics and all. Thanks for writing, and for sharing it with us.
Robert, your encouraging words mean so much to me. Thanks for taking the time to share them with me. And thanks so much for reading my newsletter. I don't know how you found me, but I'm so glad you did!
As a man who struggles with ‘goodbyes’ - take that all the way back to boarding school from age 8 (actually I am REALLY fine with the moments immediately after the goodbye just the lead up and the actual thing is unbearable) this struck a chord. Crikey, really feeling the ‘empty nest’ part. You sound like you have a wonderful family, fun to be with and young adults who don’t mind hanging out with the ‘olds’. Promising for the future when they’ll be drawn back to your hub of loveliness. We have friends with 5 ‘kids’ and they all tumble back thro the door of their cottage and slip into gorgeous family routines. Now with lovers, partners, children of their own ... I see that in your future. PS, my painful goodbyes are now from our grandchildren. I cry EVERY time of parting. Beautiful writing
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my newsletter. And for such warm words of encouragement about both my family and my writing. Yes, for some reason we are lucky enough to have kids that still seem to like us and each other! So I have hopes for the future but I agree with you, it's the leading up to the good-bye that is just unbearable! Love to hear that you are so connected to your grandchildren. I can't wait for that season. And it's probably good for me to hold the reality that the good-byes continue to stay hard!
Sorry to say, they’re harder even! I couldn’t believe the wave of raw emotion that washed over me when little Olivia was born, 3 days before the UK locked down in 2020. It was 4 months until we saw her. But the love is incredible. Tugs at my heartstrings. And now there’s Fin too. 😬
Thanks for the encouraging words, both about the piece and about this season of life. My twenty-year-old wrote me the sweetest card for my birthday yesterday acknowledging this season, all the stretching out that this happening in our family but also that heart connection/tether than you mentioned. I can definitely see the invitation to allow the grief and also keep a lookout for joy as things change. In my experience, hurt and joy always thread together.
Dear Aimee,
I'm not sure how I found your newsletter. It may have been a comment you left or a suggested follow of Substack, or some other accidental (or not) discovery. No matter though...I really love your writing, style and topics and all. Thanks for writing, and for sharing it with us.
Robert, your encouraging words mean so much to me. Thanks for taking the time to share them with me. And thanks so much for reading my newsletter. I don't know how you found me, but I'm so glad you did!
As a man who struggles with ‘goodbyes’ - take that all the way back to boarding school from age 8 (actually I am REALLY fine with the moments immediately after the goodbye just the lead up and the actual thing is unbearable) this struck a chord. Crikey, really feeling the ‘empty nest’ part. You sound like you have a wonderful family, fun to be with and young adults who don’t mind hanging out with the ‘olds’. Promising for the future when they’ll be drawn back to your hub of loveliness. We have friends with 5 ‘kids’ and they all tumble back thro the door of their cottage and slip into gorgeous family routines. Now with lovers, partners, children of their own ... I see that in your future. PS, my painful goodbyes are now from our grandchildren. I cry EVERY time of parting. Beautiful writing
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my newsletter. And for such warm words of encouragement about both my family and my writing. Yes, for some reason we are lucky enough to have kids that still seem to like us and each other! So I have hopes for the future but I agree with you, it's the leading up to the good-bye that is just unbearable! Love to hear that you are so connected to your grandchildren. I can't wait for that season. And it's probably good for me to hold the reality that the good-byes continue to stay hard!
Sorry to say, they’re harder even! I couldn’t believe the wave of raw emotion that washed over me when little Olivia was born, 3 days before the UK locked down in 2020. It was 4 months until we saw her. But the love is incredible. Tugs at my heartstrings. And now there’s Fin too. 😬