As parents we expect our kids to grow and leave home. Except mine haven't. Chet is unable to live independently, and Rob has stayed happily here at home. He is going to be 25 this spring. By this time many kids have at least lived away from home for college. When he went to college he commuted. While there was an element of cost savings involved, there was also a need on his part to feel rooted and connected. Early trauma leaves its marks.
I was especially glad he was still living at home when the pandemic rolled around and he lost his job in the food service industry as a result. Thankfully he found a new job in a new field a few months into this and has been working steadily. The restaurant he had worked at since before college never reopened so this was a double blessing.
A few weeks ago he texted K and I pictures of an empty apartment. It is pretty. Lovely hardwood floors (first thing the family reno queen noticed! LOL) It is in a city about 30 minutes from us (the city where our church is located, but we have not been there since last March) He plans to share the apartment with someone else. The primary leaseholder is a friend of one of his coworkers. So Rob does not know the other fellow very well. But he says J says he is a great guy and lived with him for 6 years before he got married and moved out. Rob's rent share is really reasonable. They will split utilities and there is a free washer dryer in the building.
He saw the apartment in person this weekend and really liked it. So I know he will be moving at some point in the near future. My guess is probably around mid March. I am happy for him. I am sad for us. Rob is a quiet loving presence in our family. Sunday nights we do the dishes together after dinner and talk. He is that guy who is always there to lend a hand and always has a smile. I'll miss that smile at the dinner table. It will be weird not to hear his steps on the stairs past my bedroom when he comes home from work at night.
But this is what should happen and I hope with all my heart that it goes well for him and is an exciting step into independence. Now please excuse me while I go get a kleenex and sob for a few! (smile)
