Last night I journeyed out to New Jersey from Manhattan to speak about Walking on Eggshells to a group of about 40 people. We left very early in case of traffic, and so of course we arrived an hour early. There was another speakers, Karen Stabiner, who edited an anthology called The Empty Nest. Karen spoke about how hard it is to separate when our children go away to college, and I followed up with the rest of their—and our—lives. It was a good evening. I love Karen, and I think her book is a must-read for empty nesters.
But I got home close to 11:00, and I couldn’t fall asleep because I was so energized, and then the dog woke me up during the night (he’s very old and he paced all night), and I was exhausted this morning.
Things turned around when I opened my email and read this letter:
Dear Jane,
I was one of the lucky people in your audience tonight. I found the evening to be so enjoyable and very informative. I loved the story of when you were talking to your other women and finding out that you shared a common occurrence (just when you thought you were the only one this was happening to) that really hit home and was so comforting for me to speak to my friends who were experiencing the same issues as I was. Where I live most parents are so involved in their adult children’s lives either by control of the dollar or just plain control it makes me wonder HOW COME MY KIDS DON’T LISTEN TO ME!!! And then on my way home my older son called just to say Hi, I almost crashed – I couldn't believe it. Its a journey and everyday brings new challenges and surprises of being blind sighted. You just never know. Keep up the great work and thanks for your wonderful advice.
That’s what it’s like, promoting a book.
