best transition ever: grandparenting
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Father’s Day in the Empty Nest

I got a sweet email from a dad after we spoke on the telephone.  All of his children are away and usually they forget to acknowledge Father’s Day.  He knows they love him. He knows their brains work differently – he understands. Plan one is for him to do something to celebrate that day and
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Graduation Day

Congratulations to all of you! “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer Tips of the Day – 1.  Carry extra Kleenex. I passed out cotton handkerchiefs to my immediate family while we were waiting for the ceremony to begin.
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Count Down To My Empty Nest For Dads

A father shared with me on the telephone that in two months, his son will be thousands of miles from home. He notices that moms are better at chatting and repeating their feelings. He sees articles about moms saying goodbye, but little support for the dads. He is hurting because he too loves his son,
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Reinventing Yourself Seems To Be Epidemic

That is what I am hearing from parents and non-parents across the country who are burnt out from the decades of a career they use to enjoy. It reminded me of the line, THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE.  A lawyer told me she now wants to teach high school if she
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Cinderella to Happily Ever After

I have been hearing from parents that their children have made their college choices. Some wishes have come true, some are waiting for a year, gap year, until they can afford college, some will be volunteering, and others are staying local to cut costs. For parents it brings up shifting what they thought would happen
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After Graduation

Do you remember the celebration of high school graduation and then college?  I will never forget those milestones with my daughter. True joy. Heavenly Days. I loved my family and dear friends being in the same room to celebrate her. I loved seeing all the other families so happy with their clicking cameras and Kleenex.
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Eradicate Breast Cancer – Join Us For the Walk

Hello Empty Nesters and those on the way.   I will be joining the 5K walk with Susan Love M.D., on Sunday, May 17th in Pacific Palisades, CA. (Los Angeles area).  We are meeting at the public library at eight am. If you want information, call 1-866-569-0388, or just meet us there Sunday morning. Get information
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Graduations

Celebrations from high school and college grads are streaming the country.  Congratulations, you did it! Parents and grads are BEGINNERS again. The roles they have lived are changing.  GUT FEELINGS and CURIOSITY will be your sign posts, as well as, those WEIRD VOICES in your head that compares you to others, chatters so loud that
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Going Organic

I stopped buying bottled water. I don’t use paper towels or napkins. I use cloth. I read the labels more than before for cleaning products, but mostly I ask my friends what changes they are making. As you know, I am growing my own self-taught, organic vegetables and sharing them with friends and neighbors.  I
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Happy Mother’s Day

As I Look Back      Author Unknown           As I look back on my life, I find myself wondering…..Did I remember to thank youfor all that you have done for me? For all of the times you were by my sideto help me celebrate my successesand accept my defeats? Or for teaching me the value of
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Mother’s Day Gifts

Empting the nest or being an empty nester, you are a great mom who has been there for your children. Here are some ideas of how they can be there for you…go ahead and forward this list to them and your partner. 1. You drive and take her somewhere for a surprise.  I would love
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Emergency Plans for the Empty Nest

Oh, the challenge list: being wait listed for college, twitching  finances to attend college, children not coming home for Mother’s Day, mother’s who aren’t with us anymore, children moving back home, juggling bills, planning for retirement, caring for the ill, helping your children who learn differently.  Are you sad now? Sorry, for that list which
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Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org