I had known for some time that my daughter and her husband had a strained marriage. Mid-January 2022, she called from Texas and said she was loading stuff in the car, including our granddaughter and was coming home to us to try and figure this all out. It was a surprise but not a surprise.
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So just like that, in about 20 hours’ time we went from being empty nesters living the peaceful, off grid life to a household of four where we were co-parenting a 3-year-old. We’re going to have to put the simple life dream on hold for a bit.
Now, plenty of you reading this have gone through a divorce or helped kids navigate one. There’s nothing pleasant about it. BUT, my daughter and I (along with Amy) are ridiculously close and are a very good fit. We had been building this place as a sanctuary, for us, the kids and friends. We had hoped for a multi-generational ending at some point. We just didn’t figure it would happen this fast. To have built a place appealing enough to our own kids to want to raise their kids here felt pretty darn good.
It’s been an awful long time since I’ve had to raise kids. Did I do a good enough job the first time around? No. I was gone for work way more than I should have been. I had kids young and always regretted not being the patient guy I am now through the formative years. Am I really getting a shot at a do over as a wiser, gentler and less distracted man? Yes. Although it was unclear just how long this was to be, I was excited to have a chance to do my part at enriching our granddaughter’s life for any amount of time.
Once she arrived, it took her all of about 14 minutes to take over my life.
