<p>RobD, those are some great suggestions about how much they contact me. I don’t want to never hear from them, but I also don’t want to be nagging at them to call. The son of a friend of mine went to college, got a new cellphone, and refused to give his mom the number–I definitely don’t want to be in that position!</p>
<p>Crizello, I think you are totally right about feeling the loss no matter how much I prepare. It’s a real emotion, a real change, and it definitely is worth some time accepting the change. </p>
<p>One thing that keeps things in perspective is that I have a friend who grieved all the way through her only child’s senior year of high school. I fully understand–every single event was the last time that would happen for them. Then they lost that child a year later in a terrible accident, and I saw what it meant to really lose a child, not just have the living arrangement change. It’s beyond words. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give myself the license to be sad that a phase of my life is ending, but it does help me appreciate what I have. </p>
<p>I’m surprised at how many books are out there for new moms & dads and almost none (aside from Katrina Kenison, who I have seen mentioned on CC) that target the other end of the parenting journey.</p>