3 Days to Empty Nesting Solo

Last night was rough. I woke up at 1:27 a.m. with my son pacing in the loft with only his phone light on.

"Are you okay?

"It's okay mom," he barked.

"Nate, you sure?" I asked a few minutes later.

"I'm fine."

He sounded angry which concerned me. What made him that angry in the middle of the night?

I was so tired, I chose to believe him and fell back asleep and woke again with him sounding like he was going to hurl. He was sick! So many thoughts flooded my brain. Oh no, our one day together is going to be ruined! It will take him three days to recover from this. Will he be able to go to basic sick?

As he closed the bathroom door and handled his business like an adult, I remained on the outside with groggy worry. Thankfully, it was a quick episode that left him feeling better. So we both were able to go back to sleep easily. I got up this morning to see our Shelby dog curling up next to him.

After five months of being back here, her and Macy dog have both slept with me. Yet the minute he was under the weather, Shelby was in his bed letting him know he wasn't alone. Sniff sniff. As soon as I saw her there this morning it reminded me of how tough it will be on the pets.

I'm convinced they can sense he's leaving. Last week as he packed his truck to drive to Tennessee to say some goodbyes, Shelby sat right at the front door like "Don't even THINK about going without me." While Macy May, the Belgian Malinois bounced around the general vicinity of the front door showing her anxiety in action.

You can imagine how relieved they both were when I started to fit them with their harnesses and leashes and led them to his truck. This is going to be so hard on all of us. God give us strength!