Our Empty Nest

If you follow me at all you know that exciting things are happening in our life. Gary and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. We are now, as Gary says, 'officially empty-nesters.' We started out 20 years with my three oldest daughters (and another friend of daughter who lived with us for three years). A few years later we added two more children to the mix. So for the last twenty years we have had anywhere from one to five children living with us at one time.  

The girls have all moved out and it has been Chris at home with us for the last few years.  He graduated from high school three years ago. Chris is a unique individual. He has some limited learning abilities but we have always encouraged him to be the best he can and do the best he can. We could all take lessons from him.  He has grown into a very caring, giving, serving young man. Going out and about with him always teaches Gary and I a lesson. He is so courteous to the people who should be courteous to him as he is their customer. He never fails to tell the person waiting on him to 'have a good day' or 'nice to meet you'.  

Chris has worked hard and was very persistent in getting the job he currently has. He has worked at Whataburger for a little over a year. He turned in his application and then was persistent in going in every few days to check and see if the manager had had a chance to look at his application. The manager quickly realized that this was one persistent person and she might as well interview him. Long story short - they hired him and gave him a shot and here it is more than a year later and he is still working there!

I have helped Chris in managing his money and he was delighted when a year ago he was able to go buy himself a bedroom set. I continued to help him and we started discussing with him the possibility of moving out and getting his own apartment. In preparation for this, we started helping him get ready. This included charging him a monthly 'rent' to be certain that he would be able to afford an apartment on his salary. We also had him prepare one family meal a week. He has accumulated a small collection of recipes and if he's not sure what to fix he always turns to scrambled eggs. When we went on vacation earlier this year for a week we left Chris at home. Gary sat down with him and prepared a menu for the week and Chris worked out his grocery list and then we took him shopping to buy his groceries for the week.  

So about two months ago we started seriously looking at apartments for Chris. We didn't want to get him to excited so just more or less checked these on our own. We needed a place that he could afford, easy for him to get to work on his bicycle, and in an area he was familiar with. We found the place and filled out the application and turned it in. Then began the wait. We told him it might be a long shot because the apartment complex required income three times the amount of the rent!  He was very concerned about what would happen if he didn't get the apartment. We told him, 'we just look for another place'. 

Without letting him know, we went and checked on his application and HE WAS APPROVED! We got his deposits all paid, arranged for the electricity to be turned on. We were so excited for him and planned a surprise party with friends to give him the news that he was going to have his own place.  He was very excited about this as you can see from the picture. 

So he had a week to get everything ready to move. This weekend was scheduled for moving day. Gary took the weekend off work, we made arrangements to sign the lease papers on Friday and had friends lined up to help move furniture on Saturday. Remington was so excited for Chris getting his own apartment that he wanted to get balloons and put in the house to surprise him on moving day. So while Chris was at work Saturday morning we went and bought some helium balloons. We also blew up a bunch of regular balloons. We head over to Chris' apartment only to open the door and find water running out, the carpet soaked and the kitchen floor flooded!!

It seems that the maintenance guy who put the kitchen faucet in did not do it properly and the faucet had been running for more than 12 hours. Gary went to the office to let them know. They said the apartment next door had called that morning to say they had a leak.  Guess it wasn't their leak after all. They made arrangements for a restoration team to come clean up the water and put fans on the carpet to dry it out. Moving day postponed.  We called our friends to explain the situation and then went home to wait and break the news to Chris. He took it very well.

We spent the time Friday and Saturday purchasing a few items he would need, shower curtain, dish soap, a few utensils, etc. He had been given a sofa, table/chairs, some towels, etc. K.C and Michael are moving themselves in a few weeks and had told him that he could have a bunch of their stuff. 

Today we finally got him moved with the help of our son-in-law Michael and the loan of a truck from our friend Rick. Two truckloads and two van loads today had his furniture and other paraphernalia moved in. He even took one of the cats with him!!  That was an adventure getting the cat over there as she had never been inside a vehicle before. Wish I could have seen her throw herself against the window trying to get out. LOL

So begins our Empty Nest Life.  We are proud of the accomplishment Chris has made and while we are worried for him being on his own we know he will be fine. We look forward to the next phase of our life.