Empty-nest Family
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New to the Empty Nest: Just Turn the Lights On
Her husband tells the story much better than I do. “She was calling me 3-4 times a day. ‘How are you honey? How’s your day going? Can I do anything for you?’ She obviously needed someone to take care of,” he explained. His wife, Julie, was experiencing the feelings so many women have after driving the last child off to college. The silence of the empty nest is deafening. There is only one voice and it screams, “What do I do now?” Julie’s husband, Robert, encouraged her to get out of the house... go see people! One day while visiting a friend and their hospitalized child, Julie noticed a dark play room on the floor of the ICU for children. “What happens there?” she asked an attending nurse. Previously, the play room had been active with adult volunteers spending time with children and siblings, but recently, the number of volunteers had grown so small, the playroom was often quiet. This became Julie’s full house — a mission to turn on the lights of the playroom. She began with volunteering long hours herself, and soon she would show up daily with more volunteers. When not in the playroom, she brought her smiles, laughter and hope room to room to the patients and their families. After five thriving years, the room is now officially called Julie’s Playroom in a major hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Women so often need someone to nurture, whether it is a growing business, employees, students, community politics, grandchildren, family, or a volunteer organization. The empty nest should be seen as nothing but a new opportunity; however there are statistics which reveal many go into depression when all the chickens fly the coop. In fact, some mothers the first year will insist they need to remain free of commitments in case their children call on them for assistance. There are many excuses in the big world masking fears of rejection and doubt upon seeking employment or places to volunteer. It only takes one step of courage, like Julie made, in order to discover just how many needs exist. One of my favorites, a regular song on Siriusly Sinatra radio, poses the question, “Who can I turn to when nobody needs me?” A sad song about love lost... perfect for the empty nest mother to sing. Truths is, there are so many places to turn. Some of you will sit in graduation services soon and wonder... what do I do now? What you don’t do is lament over your circumstances too long. Allow it to drive you to make a difference in the lives of others. As Robert said, get out and see people; dust off the resume; fill a passion; begin a campaign. There are so many playrooms in need of the lights turned on. If you have begun a new direction after becoming an empty nest family, please share your ideas with us here... and thank you for stopping by!
It's raining cats and kittens at Common Sense for Animals in Stewartsville
By Hunterdon County Democrat It's raining cats and kittens at Common Sense for Animals Shelter in New Village/Stewartsville. This nonprofit shelter has for 25 years provided a safe haven for strays, abandoned, abused, neglected and misunderstood pets and exotic animals. Here are three of the most recent intergenerational featured cat and kitten adoption opportunities. CSA is proud to introduce Kellogg, the sweetest cat, whose unanimous donor is offering to pay his adoption fee for the right person who would give Kellogg a forever home that will properly address his special condition. In March Kellogg was rescued by animal control at the Phillipsburg Wal-Mart. He was found in the middle of a 4'X4' palette of Kellogg Rice Krispies, wrapped in shrink wrap. He had traveled across the country in a tractor trailer in this confined condition covered in his own excrement and exhibited hindquarter paralysis lacking control of his elimination functions. The amount of time he remained in distress was not known so immediate surgery was performed. The Animal Health Care Center veterinarian, Dr. Robert Blease states that "amputation of his diseased tail was our only option, thus leaving a small bunny shaped tail." The curative surgery, neutering, medication, and the tincture of time (4 months) yielded the desired result has by giving Kellogg full mobility and strength. He is waiting for his loving adopter who will work with his litter box need. The next adoptable sweetheart is a kitten named Mars. The scoop about Mars places this kitten hitching a ride under the hood of an M&M Mars employee's car during his commute home. When the driver realized that a creature was under the car's hood he summoned a policeman who helped rescue little frightened Mars. Mars was brought to Common Sense for Animals Shelter and remains here until his hold time is up on Thursday, July 9. This event will receive newspaper and TV coverage due to the generosity of the Mars Corporation. Our next sweetheart is an alert, bright adult/possible senior cat named Elfie. She has stolen the hearts of the Animal Health Care Center. Jillane Becker, a technician at the center says, "Elfie is the sweetest cat who never scratches or bites is so mellow that she is the staff's favorite well behaved cat, in addition, she is very healthy having been at the center for a couple of months. She will make a perfect companion for an empty nest family." Call Common Sense for Animals at 908-859-3060 for more information or visit the Common Sense for Animals Shelter at 2420 Route 57, New Village/Stewartsville to see these precious rescues and meet more wonderful deserving felines and canines. Open Monday-Wednesday-Friday, from 8 a.m.to 4 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, from 8 a.m.to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Trials of Jimmy Rose, ITV Ray Winstone surprises as concerned grandad - but old habits die hard
by Tom Birchenough “Breezy” isn't a word we associate with Ray Winstone. We’re more used to something like “big slab o’ bastard”, the epithet he got (they were biased Glaswegians, admittedly) most recently for his appearance in Robert Carlyle’s The Legend of Barney Thomson. So to see him jauntily singing along to Sinatra at the beginning of Alan Whiting’s three-parter The Trials of Jimmy Rose looked different. Admittedly he was walking away from 12 years at Her Majesty’s Pleasure (not his first stretch, either), and being met in a Bentley suggested that probation wasn’t exactly going to be a hardship stint. The gaff he was delivered home to by ponytailed Uncle Roy (Paul Jesson) looked nice too, definitely falling into the “substantial residence” category. Ominously the “Welcome Home!” banner seemed to have been got at by rats though, and the reception, principally from wife Jackie (Amanda Redman, pictured right) was on the frosty side. The rest of the family – the ones who were there, that is (Charlotte Randle as daughter Julie with Winstone, main picture) – did all they could, though the best moments came when his young grandson had to teach Jimmy the intricacies of new mobile phones. Not so pleasant, admittedly, when that came with quizzing, based on info gathered from the Internet, about your past as an armed robber. Whiting’s script mined some nice comedy from such elements: discovering he couldn’t buy a bus ticket for cash anymore, Jimmy was told the options, one of which might be a Freedom Pass, prompting the rejoinder, “Could have done with one of them 12 years ago”. There was more when he went in for the DIY job interview that was a condition (very reluctant, on Jimmy's part) of probation, with a hyper-enthusiastic manager going on about how he must know his way around hand-tools. Or when it turned out that Uncle Ray had invested all the family's spare cash in the Spanish property market – a hint perhaps at Sexy Beast, Winstone and Redman's last encounter? – and it had disappeared into the unfinished villas of recession. But domestic strife was the prime issue, felt all the more acutely in the now empty-nest family home. Jackie was telling him she didn’t love him anymore, needed more time etc etc, so it was separate bedrooms. Trying to make amends was one thing, but Jimmy’s reaction stretched “Say it with flowers” to an extreme. The welcome he got the next day at his son’s no-less swanky abode (where that all came from remains to be revealed – was it all dad's loot?), for another grandkid’s birthday, was underwhelming. So it was clear that if Jimmy had been expecting to be welcomed back into the fold straightaway he'd just a touch na?ve: he’s got plenty of adjustment to do, not least realising he's on the old side now. It’s as “concerned grandad” that it seems he’ll be making his mark here, with granddaughter Ellie, who’s left the largesse of home behind for a squat and a heroin habit, as top priority. At least Jimmy’s tracked her down by mid-episode, which none of the others had managed. However, resorting to precision technical equipment of the kind you’d use to crack a safe to spring her (when she didn't want to be sprung) didn’t exactly show emotional finesse. Though it brought reconciliation of sorts, and some stabbing emotions, with Jackie: Winstone's playing real feelings here, no doubt about that. Short shrift too for Ellie's dodgy boyfriend, last seen dangling as his stash of the white stuff blew away on the wind (pictured above); we'll be hearing more from those quarters. Jimmy will discover that the streets he was once master of now play by different rules, and his attempts to put a few things right had gone very wrong by finale time. But you do not, repeat not bludgeon a proud criminal, ex- or not, to the pavement in the way we witnessed here. There will be blood. We’ll see how that action element unfolds in tandem with family drama of a kind that wouldn’t look out of place in the soaps. With only two more instalments to juggle, director Adrian Shergold has got his action cut out. Trial by endurance, this won’t be.
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 It will see a major increase in the population of the elderly, especially those over 80 years old, Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu said in early February. "There will also be an increase in 'empty-nest' families, (old people living without their children)," he told a conference.
2 As young people leave home for college or to start their careers, their parents are left to live on their own. These are sometimes called 'empty-nest' families.
3 In big cities, empty-nest families account for 20 to 30 percent, and in small towns, the percentage is as high as 40 percent.