A few years ago, I started thinking about the term Empty Nester and how there wasn\u2019t a name for those of us who would never be one. I thought about my youngest daughter who would, because of her disability and need for full care, live with me forever. It hit me that I was the opposite of an Empty Nester – I was a Forever Nester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I loved it. I even bought the domain name – just in case I ever found the time to blog, or something. I had no reservations about being a Forever Nester and I knew that it was the best decision for my daughter. I was excited to have found a name for the next season of my life. After all, Empty Nesters had one, we should too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since that time, life has changed A LOT. A couple of years ago, my daughter\u2019s biggest challenge was having quadriplegic cerebral palsy. That was hard enough. Now, thanks to an ever lengthening list of new diagnoses, she\u2019s considered medically complex. Just when I think we\u2019ve found our new normal, we\u2019re hit with another challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll be honest, this is NOT what I thought my life as a Forever Nester would look like. I knew it wouldn\u2019t be easy, which is why I thought it deserved its own name. Calling myself a Forever Nester differentiated my situation from that of my Empty Nester friends. It still does, of course, but being a Forever Nester also defines my life in ways I didn\u2019t expect. It impacts every decision I make and how I show up for every other role in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the thing – it\u2019s HARD, but it\u2019s not bad. I\u2019m still absolutely confident that my being a Forever Nester is the best decision for my daughter. I\u2019ve learned how to fully appreciate the good days while being simultaneously prepared for the next tough one. I\u2019ve learned how to create a home that serves the needs of my family. I\u2019ve learned the value of connecting with others who, although not in the same boat, are navigating similar waters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that good can come from hard situations, but the impact will be less if we seclude ourselves and hide our story. My hope is that, by sharing some of my Forever Nester experiences, other parents of children with disabilities or medical challenges might feel a little more understood and a little less alone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few years ago, I started thinking about the term Empty Nester and how there wasn\u2019t a name for those of us who would never be one. I thought about my youngest daughter who would, because of her disability and need for full care, live with me forever. It hit me that I was the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,8,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55,"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forevernester.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}