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Topic: Empty Nester/Retirement (from work) (09/10/09)
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TITLE: Retirement Is Great | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marguerite Cisnerd
09/13/09 -
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We took our son to the university that rainy, gloomy Monday evening. As he stood outside the door, we hugged and kissed him good bye. As I stood quietly, I observed as he entered that wide door. The door of discoveries and wisdom was the door that shall make him a man. Hopefully, he would become a man of principles, values, skills and intangibles attributes. I said to God in a murmur:”God, please, transform him into a man of good will. Make him a knowledgeable, caring, empathetic man after this rite of passage. Please let him model himself after your Son Jesus in serving humanity”. We went into the night, sad and tearful. When we arrived home, I felt the empty, forlorn structure that the house had become. In a few hours, it truly felt different. Without my son, the house was dead. The exuberant voices of him and his friends will be absent. The disks with the music made by Big Daddy Weave, Kirk Franklin, Fleece,Tye Tribbett were gone with him. We middle age people listen to the Reilly Band, Donnie McClurkin, Paul Baloche or CeCe Winans.
I had been a teacher assistant for several years. I also worked at home, taking care of my six beautiful, wholesome children. I made sure my household ran smoothly and that my children received all the spiritual, physical, emotional, cognitive food they needed. I cleaned, cooked, did laundry and other things for my family. Yes, I worked hard, but it was worthwhile. All my children have become the productive, great persons I wanted them to be. Most important, they have become staunch and fervent Christians. Now I have retired from working at the school and from working at home. My husband stopped working recently too.
We were all alone. What a lonely life this could be! All I did during that first month after my son was gone was entertaining the doldrums inside that big, lonely house. There was no one now to help us to set up our new cellular telephones. There was also no one to help us navigate the difficult web sites. There was no one to make us happy.
That was the time when I heard God talk to me. I heard him loud and clear in my soul. He said: ”Rachel, I created you to be a great mother of many. There are many of my children in the foster care systems that need parents. You and your husband can help so many of my children and save their souls for me”. That is when I ran to reach for my telephone guide. I found some places ran by churches and some by my state government. I went online and did some research.
Two weeks later I called one of the agencies. The people were very nice, informative, explained everything to us and answered all our questions. They also told us not to worry because everything was going to be alright. As part of the training, we had to attend classes for a month. We also had to attend workshops and seminars. They gave us the option to join a support group. Professionals and experts were part of the support group at all times. My husband and I were elated.
It was a sunny, beautiful, diaphanous morning when we went to get the children. We decided on getting four, ranging in age from two to five years old. They were a pair of boys and a pair of girls. Upon meeting them, we felt younger than what we really were. We play, read Christian stories and sing to the children. My husband is a very busy father again, and enjoys taking all of us to the parks on Saturdays and to church on Sundays. We have become a very joyful family again. Retirement is great!
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