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Don’t be Jimmy Swaggart. Be Bob Marley

Momservation: Sad songs say so much, but I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.

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Boy, I really had you guys worried.

There were people stopping me in the grocery store ready to hug it out while sincerely asking me, “How are you doing, Kelli?”

I had friends calling and texting to see if I wanted to walk our dogs together. People seeing if I wanted to grab a coffee or lunch.

Every knock on the door by the UPS guy made me think someone had finally sent the police for a welfare check.

But really guys, I’m okay.

After writing “Going Full Golden – Part I & II” about my complete emotional breakdown after dropping my son off at college every person I ran in to looked like they were poised to catch me, as if any moment I might jump.

You all are just too stinkin’ sweet. Trust me. I’m fine.

Sure, there were a couple of weeks after the drop-off in Boise that the sun seemed less bright, food tasted bland, and the thing that most worried me—I actually cried over having less laundry to do now that my son was gone.

And my poor daughter, now the lone wolf pup, her sympathy for me missing my first-born baby was growing thinner each day than a pair of sheer slacks over Kim Kardashian’s heinie. I think if she heard me mope one more time how I was doing, she would have tackled the next person before they could ask me.

I would have hated to see Gammy get mowed down like that, since the biggest concern for my well-being was coming from my mother.

So I decided it was time to buck-up. I gave myself until Labor Day—2 weeks after The Big Good-bye—to mourn the permanent change in our family dynamic. After a 3-day weekend getaway in San Diego with some girlfriends drinking wine on the beach to help boost my spirits, I vowed to come home with my new perspective:

Don’t be Jimmy Swaggart

(Does anybody like this guy?)

Be Bob Marley

(Who doesn’t like this guy? “Cause every little thing, gonna be alright.”)

He’s happy, I’m happy. Missing my son is normal, but it’s not the end of the world. Time to look forward instead of backward and there is plenty to look forward to. I don’t want to waste my daughter’s Senior year dreading the empty nest on the horizon. It’s time to soak up everything that is still wonderful about having my baby girl under my roof for another year. And it’s time to enjoy all the fun things Hubby and I can do together with our other friends who also now suddenly have a lot of free time on their hands.

Pickle ball, anyone?

#BeBobMarley  #HappyPeopleAreMoreFun  #LookForward

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