#1 - How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 1) - Mixed Feelings Stirred Up by the Empty Nest

How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 1) - Mixed Feelings Stirred Up by the Empty Nest
How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 2) - Changing Relationships

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  

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Mixed Feelings Stirred up by the Empty Nest

Guests:                      Barbara Rainey and Susan Yates

From the series:       How Empty Is Your Nest? (Day 1 of 2)

Air date:                     August 1, 2016

Bob: There was a moment in Susan Yates’ life when, as she looked at her empty nest, she started to think, “What’s my purpose anymore?”

Susan: I remember the day after Libby’s wedding—she was the last to marry—going up to the girls’ room that they’d grown up in / that they had shared their whole life. As I stood in the room, I looked around at the walls, and there were lines where the pictures had hung. There were pieces of little scraps of paper and, as I looked at these bare walls, I noticed that the closet door was ajar.  

On the floor of the closet I saw a rumpled, old, blue prom dress. It seemed out of place—it was all alone / it was not needed any more. It, in a way, was out of style. As I looked at that prom dress, I thought, “That’s just how I feel.”

1:00

Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, August 1st. Our host is the President of FamilyLife®, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. We’ll look today at the realities that begin to set in as the nest starts to empty out. Stay tuned. 

And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us on the Monday edition. I’m just sitting here, doing the math. What’s it been? It’s been more than a decade, now, since you guys became empty nesters?

Barbara: That’s right. [Laughter] Are you going to—

Bob: Are you still trying to figure it out? [Laughter] You’re kind of silent there!

Dennis: I told you—

Barbara: I guess I’m a little slow on the math. [Laughter]

Dennis: No; that’s not so. No; I’m just trying to realize when it was when you and I finally determined we were empty nesters. [Laughter]

Bob: So there was this process, you’re saying?

Dennis: I think there was. I think it took us two or three years to come out of—how many years of childbearing and child rearing?

Barbara: I don’t know—a lot.

Dennis: Twenty-eight, I think.

Barbara: I think so.

Dennis: I think over twenty-eight years. 

2:00

Barbara: I think so. It doesn’t happen automatically.

Dennis: No; I mean, it was—

Barbara: It was a transition.

Dennis: It was all “Hands on deck!” raising children. It took us awhile to get out of the mindset and to finally realize: “You know what? We can kind of enjoy each other now and focus on one another.” It hadn’t been that we weren’t doing that before; but when you’re tending to children, there’s no question—they drain you.

Bob: Our listeners are obviously aware that your wife, Barbara Rainey, is joining us today. Good to have you here.

Barbara: Thank you, Bob.

Bob: We are going to be hearing a