Answers Found.

My oldest Peter has been out on his own for a little more than a year.
I still wake up in the morning and expect to see his red mop of hair,
and his sweet voice each morning; there is a bit of sadness as I wake
up and realize he is not in the bedroom down the hall resting; with
that sweet angelic face all people sleep with; (you know the one of
peace and tranquility; you can see what they must of looked like as a
child face as they sleep.) Quite simply I miss him.

I know he is not coming back to live at home - he is 20 years old; a
grown man. Making his own decisions; for good or bad. Just trying to
survive in the world. Doing the best he can. I hope his father and I
have helped him enough to know how to be the type of man anyone would
be proud to call friend. Only time will tell.

I hope both son’s will know they can still turn to us for help and
guidance - if and when either would need it and not to be afraid to
ask. Life is hard enough. Family should be who you can turn to and
trust when in need.

To make matters worse for my empty nest syndrome, Joe who just turned
18 in March 2008; has decided he is both moving out to a new apartment
and going to school and will be working full time starting in June for
the next 10 weeks. He is studying for a job that takes care of the
planes outside structure, repair and fix damages. He has taken tests
where he comes up genius level and this is a course that is sponsored
by about 6 plane manufacturers. He has qualified for funding and the
only costs would be for his books and supplies. When he is done he has
a choice of either working for an airplane manufacturer as they are
sponsoring the program. He can field the job offers or he would be a
shoo-in for a career in the Air Force. The choice would be his. Either
choice would mean he would be able to travel anywhere airplanes would
be to fix them.

While I am proud of him as he is doing everything the right way;
Moving out, getting his own place and ensuring his future; as his
Mother I will miss him so much my heart breaks at the thought of him
leaving.

When will I not hurt so much; I wish I had an answer. Everyone tells
me time will ease the heartache. It is good I am letting them go
forth, as I would never want to hold either son back. I fact; I look
forward to the successes each will achieve in the future.

I can hardly wait to go to Joe’s Graduation Ceremony! I will be the
one screaming and clapping the loudest when his name is called to
accept his diploma; for it will be well earned and hard worked for.

I know I can’t be the only one going thru this - I would love to hear
some feed back from others on how to survive such an emotional time
period and would be very grateful to those who do share their thoughts
on this private subject. Any help offered would be wonderful. Thank
you ahead of time.