It's really interesting for me to be in this particular juncture of my life. I'm 53 and a mother of three. I have two daughters, 21 and 20, and my son is 16. My eldest has graduated college already and is a working professional, my second daughter is a junior in college and doing well, and my son is a sophomore in high school.
I’m still a mom, of course, but a mom to adults, which is really strange.
They still need me, which I'm grateful for. They text me when they have arrived at a destination late at night or if they need ideas on how to answer an email or what medicine to buy for a head cold.
But, instead of reading them good night stories, I'm now reading their resumes.
I find myself redefining who I am to them. Am I a mentor? Am I a friend? Am I just the mom? Am I a cool mom? Am I overbearing? Do they miss me when they are away? Are they sending me good night texts just to be nice or did they want to? What do they say about me when I’m not there? Did I do a good job? What did I do wrong? What did I do right? What do I do now?
Not only does it put a spin on myself as a mother, it puts a spin on who I am at 53. Obviously, I'm still a mother, but that’s no longer my main focus, that's just one facet of who I am. Of course it has always been just one facet. Of course I’ve forever been more than just a mom, I am many different things, but I need to figure out where I go from here. Do I just wait around to become a grandma? What fills that space in-between? What’s the next chapter?
I don't even know how long this book is going to be.
