Lorri Antosz Benson

Feathering My Empty Nest was born just after my youngest "chick" went off to college in 2011. My husband got a job offer in Los Angeles that was irresistible, and after many long discussions, we decided to launch ourselves into another adventure.  After living in Chicago and NYC, we had spent 18 years in Naples, FL and had raised our family in the small town atmosphere we had wanted for them, but this move promised to shake us up and offer opportunities not available in Naples.  Plus all three daughters intended to move west as soon as they could.

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So we did it. Moved across the country, downsizing from 4200 square feet to 2000. We bought a run-down beach bungalow in Santa Monica, brought it down to the studs, and built a new beach cottage.  Friends and family wanted pictures of the renovation, and I wanted to blog about the experience of the empty nest, so creating a blog would cover all bases. The empty nest was revealing  new challenges, new experiences- the cleaning out of cherished momentos and memories, the missing of children, the arrival of grandchildren, starting over and reinvention.

 

I learned that the "empty nest" phase of life is an amazing new world, and as I documented the tearing down and building up of our new home, I also documented all the emotions, triumphs, sorrows, frustrations, and accomplishments that come with this part of our journey. Our home is long finished, but the empty nest journey continues, and so does Feathering My Empty Nest .