I have had the honor of reviewing many of the 'Chicken Soup,' books and I have never been disappointed; I don't say that lightly. They all have been great reads, funny, encouraging and well worth my time. However, this one definitely stuck a cord within me, and it was perhaps one of the best I have read thus far.I am one that has been through the empty nest and it is not always a very comfortable place to be. Loneliness and the constant feeling that something (or someone) is missing fills the home, but take heart, this too will pass.
Inside the pages of this delightful book we are treated to story after story of parents that have come upon that page in this lives. The stories are often laugh-out-loud funny, heart-touching, and practical. Just about every emotion is shown in the different tales that are shared. They are short stories, easy to read, and will leave you with the feeling that you are not alone. I liked the shortness of the stories because you will be able to read one or more a day and have a daily dose of encouragement.
It truly is a great help to know that others, from all walks of life, have experienced exactly what you are, and have made it through fine. You will be encouraged by these words and go away with the attitude that life goes on, and perhaps it is your time to shine once again. Well done. Highly recommended.
And before we know it a new generation fills our home with grandchildren and the nest isn't empty anymore!
Kudos to the authors that took the time to compile this precious book.
Janet Thompson author of Praying For Your Prodigal Daughter.Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting ParentsEmpty Nesters is a collection of poignant stories about parents dealing with a wide range of emotions when their children leave home--numbness, heartache, loneliness, and even exhilaration. The timing of its publication couldn't have been better for me because I'm coping with my own empty nest. I could relate to other parents who faced empty bedrooms, empty laundry baskets, empty cars. Wanda Quist wrote, "The house is so quiet I hear the ice maker drop cubes into its bin." Another mother sends so many care boxes to her son that they're stacked all the way to the ceiling in his dorm room. But the book is not just about mothers. Fathers, sons and daughters also tell their stories, which gives the reader a broader perspective.
Empty Nesters is organized into sections with titles such as "First Flights," "Under Our Wings and in Our Hearts," "Out on a Limb," and "Ruffled Feathers." The stories are each just two or three pages. Sprinkled throughout are light poems and so-true cartoons. I laughed aloud at parents staring at a phone waiting for their child to call, kids who come home on weekends with tons of laundry for Mom to wash, and a father imagining turning an empty bedroom into a pool room while his wife laments that the child has grown up.
For those parents who are anticipating their empty nest and those who are dreading it, Empty Nesters will help them realize they're not alone, that this time of life is just another inevitable stage that every parent survives. As Patricia Cena Evans wrote, "It was time for me to welcome this next season of life and move on." Yes, I thought. Me too!Empty-nest syndrome is the name given to a psychological condition that can affect a man or a woman around the time that one or more of their children leave home. This phrase is used to encapsulate the feelings of sadness and loss that many parents experience when their children no longer live with them or need day-to-day care.
"Empty Nesters, 101 stories about surviving and thriving when the kids leave home"is a delightful book that discusses, as the title suggests, various stories by the different authors on facing and coping with the empty nest syndrome.
The stories are inspiring, touching, and amusing. It will help guide the parents who are going through this process to rediscover themselves, theirs needs, and each other.
The empty nest does not have to be an end of a story, but a new beginning for the parents as well as for the children, where everyone will face new challenges, achieve personal growth, and improve their personal and interpersonal lives.
Empty nest is about loss, but it is also about rebirth and about re-experiencing life and the children who left us in a different light.
Finally, the stories in this book will inspire the readers as well as educate them on managing and reclaiming their lives. It will provide them with psychological and emotional support by edifying the process of coping with separation, and by helping them realize that their current experience of loss is universal, because many others like them have already embarked on this same journey and survived it successfully.In My Heart I Carry a Star: Stories for Advent
The Empty Nesters Soul certainly rings true. Why? because the empty nest experience is both wonderful and heart-wrenching at the same time. The real question is, "How do we respond?" Life is always full of opportunity, and for the empty nester, what we do next has the potential to be redemptive in so many ways.
Five Stars! Derek Maul: author "In My Heart I Carry A Star" and "GET REAL: a spiritual journey for men."
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