Pairs Well With...Open Doors (feat. our daughters, Chaney and Ellie)

The house got quieter, but life got louder in all the best ways. We swap “empty nest” for “open door” and talk about what happens when two daughters head to college and their moms finally move long-delayed dreams to the front burner. One of us launches The Green Butterfly—a vintage boutique turned creative community—learning retail tech, hiring a team, and designing events that help people find their style and their spark. The other starts saying yes to unplanned trips, deeper conversations, and guilt-free time, noticing how purpose returns when the calendar stops orbiting around carpool.

Our daughters join us to share the honest stuff: nervous first hellos, roommates, tiny dorms, and the small anchors that make new places feel safe—journals, teddy bears, even an emotional support cat. We explore majors and pivots, from psychology to dentistry, and theater design to special effects makeup, and we push past the salary script to a richer idea of success: meaningful work, real friends, and a life you actually want to wake up to. Along the way, we untangle boundaries and trust, choosing to be available without hovering, and letting our kids lead the check-ins. There’s nostalgia, laughter, and the reminder to take the road trip, capture the memory, and keep most of the photos off the internet.<br><br>If you’re standing at the same threshold—kids launching, identity shifting—consider this your companion guide. You’ll find perspective, practical ideas, and a nudge toward your own next chapter, whether that’s a business, a creative outlet, or simply more room to breathe. If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a quick review so more open-door parents can find us.

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You can find out more about Serena's new store, The Green Butterfly at https://www.greenbutterflyatelier.com and on Instagram @greenbutterflyatelier

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The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Although your hosts are attorneys, Pairs Well With… does not provide legal, medical, financial, or professional advice. Listening to this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship. Always seek the advice of qualified professionals regarding any specific questions or concerns you may have.

Transcript

Life After Launch

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to Pairs Well With. Today's episode is a special one. We're talking about what life has been like since our girls, Ellie and Shaney, headed off to college.

SPEAKER_04 0:09

Yes, they have officially launched the I guess, what you call it, out of the nest. They are gone. So it has been definitely different for us.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

So, Serena, when we started this podcast, one of the things that we told the listeners is that we were going to be talking about empty nesting. And this episode, I guess we can tell the listeners, features our daughters before they left for college earlier this year. They've been gone now about two months, I guess. And I thought it would be fun for the listeners to hear about how we've been doing since they've been gone. Also just to have a little intro to the to the episode today. So, how are things going with you?

SPEAKER_04 0:50

Well, we thought we were going to have all of this time on our hands. And I think that my my quote busy season has quadrupled. It has not slowed down any for me, but all good things, all new phases of life, and I would consider it not ending stages, but beginning new stages.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Right. So earlier, earlier this week, I think, or maybe last week, we posted to our social media some quotes from an author named Gretchen Rubin, who wrote an op-ed piece in the Atlantic a year or so ago about her choice of words for when her daughters left for college. And instead of empty nesting, she wrote that she wanted to call it an open door. And I just love that because I feel like that's what you and I have have said is that while our daughters are gone and reaching new horizons and exploring new new things and new places and meeting new people, we've sort of opened the door to some new experiences ourselves, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:50

Yes. I have bought myself some new art. I have gone on some spontaneous trips with both my husband and with some girlfriends. I really have not slowed down, so I don't know about sleeping in. I think there's been more hours put into my day, but it's definitely been a new season for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah. Well, I think the biggest thing you've done was get the green butterfly open, right?

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Yes, I'm so excited about that. The green butterfly is something that had been literally, literally fluttering around in my head for quite some time. I looked back on my own personal media, social media, and in January, I was sitting alone by myself at lunch one day. I'd left the Capitol and had lunch plans, and they fell through. And I said, Well, I'm just gonna go on by myself and sit and kind of mentally prepare myself for the week and the session and what I want this year to look like. And posted on social media a vintage blouse I was wearing, and

Open Door Mindset

SPEAKER_04 2:50

it said visions of green butterflies dancing in my head. And here we are, 10 months into the year, and we have officially been open for six weeks now, so I'm very excited about that. That's been something I have dreamed of for a very long time. As a young girl, I got very interested in vintage clothing when my grandmother was the circuit clerk of my hometown. This was in the early 80s, and I would go hang out with her at the courthouse, and she always wore beautiful suits with big blousy bows. And from that point forward, I've been fascinated with vintage clothing and have to work it into my wardrobe, and that's something that I want to share now with this new space I have.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Wow, and the name is perfect too, the green butterfly, because this stage of life for both of us, and especially for you, really is a metamorphosis, right?

SPEAKER_04 3:36

Yes, I have, I would say, unofficially started transitioning out of my practice. I've, you know, had that conversation with my partners and going to start stepping back from my practice as of January of next year and have a more limited role so that I can focus on the green butterfly, which I'd like to share that it's going to be more than just a, or it is more than just a vintage clothing boutique, but it is a very creative space. I want women and men alike to come in and explore and discover their own personal sense of style. I I do think that you can find that through vintage clothing because the pieces are so unique. Something will speak to you more than something just off the shelf that's fast fashion these days. But as well as just kind of discovering your own creative side. I hope that when you come into our space, it makes you think about the things that ignite your spirit and make you want to go out and feed your creative soul after you've been to see us.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

It's such a great space, Serena, that you created. And I'm looking forward to some of the events that you've been talking about having there, like women who are entrepreneurs that might want to come in, or even just our girls' group that might want to come have some events there. It's uh just such a fun, warm space, and everywhere you look is something new to see. So I'm so proud of you for doing that and excited for you. Well, thanks.

SPEAKER_04 4:57

And you have dug into some new ventures yourself. So tell us what about that?

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Just, you know, trying to do trying to do some things that that I haven't had time to do in the last many decades. And it's certainly not been a lonely time, and it's certainly not been a bore and been boring, nothing quite

The Green Butterfly Takes Flight

SPEAKER_01 5:20

as glamorous as what you've done, but have had time to say yes to things. Yes to impromptu trips out of town with friends, and yes to staying home and visiting with friends when they want to come over and kind of guilt-free, trying to make sure that I am carving out time. I don't feel like I'm taking time away from my daughter, or I don't feel like I'm taking time away from my work. I feel like I'm making more space for me time and more space to really dig into how I want to spend my time more purposefully. So that's been, that's been, it's been good. It's been clearing, you know, clearing my head a little bit. I did have to go to visit my daughter at college a week ago. She's at college about six hours away from here, had a little accident. She is fine, she is fine, but enough that I needed to go drive six hours over there to visit her. And it was a really good time to clear my head. I felt a little bit like Meredith Morris when she was talking about getting in her car and kind of having that space to really think about what she wanted to do next. It was one of those times where I didn't plan on spending six hours in my car to and from, but it was a good use of my time. And of course, I was glad there was nothing more critical going on. And it was nice to visit her in her environment and meet some of her friends and see how she's enjoying herself. And that's been that's been really good. It's been hard to be sad about her being away because she's having such a good time and enjoying it so much. And so I've just been really happy for her that she's right now doing really well. And so that has been a load off my mind, you know. How about you with Shaney?

SPEAKER_04 7:07

Yeah, I got to go visit her a couple of weeks ago as well. They were in their fall production. She's a theater major and she was assistant stage director as a freshman, so that was exciting. I think it was a very intense experience for her compared to what she went through in high school, but she survived and the the performance was wonderful, and we had dinner afterwards, and then actually she came home this past weekend and spent some time around the house, but I wasn't here because I said yes to a spontaneous girls' trip. I wasn't expecting her to come home, and we made these plans and so stuck with my plans, and she was fine. She did her own laundry, she took care of the cats for me while I was gone, and then Sunday afternoon I convinced her older brother and sister to come over, and we had a you know, just a little hamburger cookout and very relaxing, informal, you know, impromptu gathering. It was it was really nice to have all three of my children at home. But now she's back off at school again, so doing it.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Yeah, we've got a fall break. Ellie's gonna come this coming up weekend, so it'll be our first time with her being home since she's been gone. And I know she's really looking forward to visiting her pets. Of course, we just got to see each other, so we she's visited with me, but some of our maybe some of our other friends, and certainly her grandfather, she's excited about seeing him. So it'll be fun. It'll be interesting to see how we adapt as she returns home and brings probably some dirty clothes with her and some other things. One of the other things I've done while she was gone, has been gone, is hosted two of my very best friends from high school and college. And we had a fun girls' weekend catching up, and it just made me sort of realize what a great time this is for Ellie, and how much, even though uh we are very close and I want to be involved in her day-to-day, and I'd love to know everything that's going on with her. I think the fact that I don't need to know everything that's going on with her, and maybe that's gonna be the best way to move forward with this, is more letting her go and letting her explore and being more on call if she needs me, and trying to step back a little bit is gonna be the best thing. And I say that because my friends and I agreed that our parents weren't involved at all once we went to college. They waved from the door and said goodbye, and you know, we saw them on occasion, but it wasn't like we spoke every day.

New Rhythms, New Freedoms

SPEAKER_01 9:40

There certainly wasn't texting back then, and they really didn't know much about our lives, and I think that was a good thing, really. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:49

We've had that conversation too with my three, and I I was very intentional about letting them go, each one of them, and not being a helicopter. Well, I I would never consider myself a helicopter parent to begin with, but particularly after they went off to college, um, with my older two as well, you know, I I I wanted to know what they wanted me to know. I really tried to say, This is your time to go learn to be an adult. You know, for instance, with Cheney recently, she her birthday was in the last few weeks too, and she wanted a new iPhone, but she also wanted a haircut and color, and she wanted to do something extreme with her haircut and color. And I said, Well, here is a good learning opportunity for you. I will give you X amount of money and you decide would you rather have the new iPhone or would you rather have this extreme cut and color? Thankfully, she chose the new iPhone. But I said, This is offense for you to make an adult decision, you know, which is more important to you. I said, I'm not gonna sponsor both of those activities, but you can you I will give you the money and you make the decision of how it's best well spent. Again, she chose the new iPhone, so I was proud of her for making that decision.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Yeah. Yeah, I think all of those little stepping stones are important to do. And that's how we grew. That's how everybody we know grew up. And, you know, I don't I don't like to think of myself as a helicopter parent either. I think my child might disagree with that a little bit, but I I think that it has dawned upon me finally that I really don't want to know what's going on with her every day. I don't really want to have that responsibility. And, you know, as long as she's keeping her grades up and and we had some agreements that we made when she went to school that there was gonna be a certain level of responsibility that that she had. And and she's she's doing that. And so that's really all I can ask for is that she's safe and she is happy and learning and engaged in her studies and doing well academically. And that's that's really all I need to know.

unknown 11:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Unless she wants to share something else with me, obviously. Because sometimes, you know, sometimes I'll hear from her a couple of times a day. And then sometimes I won't hear from her for you know a couple of days in a row. Yeah, yeah. And that's okay. And I'm gonna try to let her take the lead on that. Oh, that's a yeah.

Visits, Distance, And Growing Up

SPEAKER_04 12:10

It's it's been a pretty easy transition for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Well, and I I think both of us being at this time where we did obviously launch this podcast. I mean, that's kind of kept us busy. And both of us at a point in our in our careers where we're wanting to shift things and redirect our purpose in life and figure out other purpose in life, that has helped because I think that has filled a void. I think some parents express sadness because so much of their identity leaves when the kids leave and they have to sort of reinvent themselves with that. And I think that's where that Gretchen Rubin article really came in handy, I thought, because it's such a good perspective instead of saying, you know, I'm an empty nester and sort of like, woe is me. You know, I think, and you I think said this when we when we first started this, you know, we got the kids here. Yeah, we did a big job. Yeah. And so the fact that they've been able to leave home and go to college is a big deal. And, you know, we gotta pat ourselves on the back a little bit about that. You know, the kids got celebrated, but we should get celebrated too. Yeah. And the parents whose kids are gone and you know, are trying to find their putting, they certainly have that to to look back on and say that they did a a good job. And then one of the other things she said in that article that that we quoted that the open door is a reminder of possibilities, like what might await us on the other side. We're not sitting in a vacated nest passively watching as someone else takes flight. We have our own places to go and plans to make. This is a time of opportunity if met with purpose. And I love that. Yeah. I think that's what we've both been talking about and and aiming for. So it's been sort of a monumental shift, but a really, a really good shift all around.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

You know, to piggyback on that, um one of the devotional books that I've been reading recently, it it kind of hit that same point and it said, you know, don't hold back onto what you know because you're afraid of what's out there, because you don't even know how great what out what is out there can be yet until you go experience it. And I will say opening the store was it was a rough couple of weeks putting staff together. And I I joke when people come in the store and say, I never worked today in retail before I opened the store, which is the truth. You know, as growing up, I never had a retail job ever. And so I've learned so much about the technology inventory system, you know, of course, you know, rent and bills and getting cities approval for signage and this, that, and the other. It was a lot really fast, and it was a little rocky getting off the ground, but now we kind of are in that we're in a good flight pattern now. And the girls that I have working with me are all great. I've got, let's see, one, two young moms working for me, and then two single ladies working for me, and we just make a really good team. Everybody brings something different to the table, and I'm just I'm really proud of what we've pulled together and look forward to growing the brand and the store and some of the ministry things that I'd like to do out of the store. So, and then the retail side of it as well. We've got some really cool things coming for online, some VIP private shopping experiences, personal styling appointments. So there's there's a lot on the horizon. Yeah. And it's allowing me and the girls themselves in their different areas to explore more of their own creativity. One with my seamstress, one with the social media, two of my sales girls with their styling of people when they come into the store, you know, and so it's it's just been really fun to watch all of that blossom.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

It really is. It's it's fun, it's fun for me to watch it happen because it's I know this is your dream, and to see it come to fruition is something that most people don't get a chance to do. So you're getting a chance to do it, and it's just gonna it's just gonna keep growing and and you're making it exactly what it is you want it to be. So that's really fun. Well, I hope that our listeners enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it, and I think that the girls enjoyed it as well. Their personalities really do come through in the episode, and uh I hope that they enjoy watching it and listening to it as well, and aren't too uh cringing too much about it when when we put it out there. But anyway, it's on its way, and we hope everybody enjoys it.

Boundaries, Helicopters, And Trust

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Also, for our listeners in our show notes for this episode, we're going to be dropping links to the green butterfly, social media links, as well as uh website links. So keep that in mind. If you've would you like to like to check it out, we'd love you to do that. Thanks, Serena. You take care. We'll talk again. Till next time. Bye-bye. Bye. Today is really what brought us to this point, I think. It gets right to the heart of where we both were and found ourselves heading towards about a year ago. We're talking about the big transition that so many are facing our kids leaving home. So we're excited about our guests today.

SPEAKER_04 17:30

And our guests today are our daughters that are headed off to college this fall. My daughter, Chaney, and Sheila's daughter, Ellie. We thought, what better way to mark this time than a shared recorded conversation with these lovely ladies? That's true.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

We're going to ask about how they're feeling about leaving for college, what their fears are, what their hopes are, what they think we'll be doing when they're gone, and reflect on what it means for us to be letting go and for them to be letting go of really all that they've known for the last 18 or 19 years.

SPEAKER_04 18:04

Yeah, so I expect there will be a little fun mother-daughter banter in there as well. So hold on tight and listen to what's coming next.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

And whether you're in the thick of the same kind of transition, have already been through it, or just curious about what it might feel like when you're facing this same sort of situation in your life. We hope the conversation brings you some comfort, perspective, and hopefully a few laughs along the way. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

So, Ellie, you are headed off to college this year. Where are you headed and what are you most excited about?

SPEAKER_00 18:46

I'm going to college in Georgia, and I'm most excited about the community and just having a bunch of friends around me.

SPEAKER_04 18:54

Friends that you haven't met yet or friends you already know?

SPEAKER_00 18:57

I haven't. Well, I have two friends that I met, but I'm excited to make more as the school year progresses. And Cheney, where are you headed?

SPEAKER_03 19:06

I'm most excited about like pursuing my passion in backstage work.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Well, you've worked really hard to get to this point, right? So, what part of the journey to get to right where you are, like on the on the eve of moving, do you think surprised you the most?

SPEAKER_03 19:26

The amount of cleaning is taken. I've been cleaning out upstairs for the past like week and it has not been that fun.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

No. Do you think that the cleaning is I mean, have you found like memories that kind of sparked you to go down the trail of like what you've done in the past that was kind of fun?

SPEAKER_03 19:47

A little bit, not really. I mean, a lot of it's just like old stuff that I haven't touched in like five years.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Yeah. Are you finding that you're you're purging it and throwing it away? You're trying to yeah, yeah. What kind of advice do you have for Ellie? Because she's about to embark upon that adventure.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Get a lot of trash bags. Make sure you have a lot of trash bags.

SPEAKER_04 20:13

So Ellie, if you're thinking about headed out, what are you most nervous about academically, socially, or personally?

SPEAKER_00 20:22

I feel like I probably should be, but not very concerned about like the academics, because I feel like I've learned how to study and I like going. It stresses me out more not going to class. Like I hate I remember once I was sick and I was like, mom, please let me go to school. I'm gonna miss I'm gonna miss a class and I'm gonna fail. So I'm not too worried about the academics. But so I I'm excited to meet people, but sometimes I get

Possibility Over Loss

SPEAKER_00 20:50

really nervous just thinking about going up and talking to new people. So I'm worried about that like stopping me from talking to people that I want to talk to. But hopefully I move past it and talk to people. So do you feel like you're ready to leave the nest? I think so. I hope so.

SPEAKER_04 21:07

What do you feel like has prepared you most for leaving the nest?

SPEAKER_00 21:11

I feel like something that helped me kind of in a wraparound way is how like my mom always has like she throws events and parties, and so I had a lot of practice there talking to people and just finding because you know, when uh you're seven and you're talking to an adult that's a friend of your mom, you can't just talk to them about like I got this new Barbie. Yeah. So I think that taught me how to talk to people that I'm not like super close with about topics that I uh are within like my comfort zone. Yeah. So I thought that will help me talk to people about a bunch of different topics.

SPEAKER_04 21:48

That's a very good reference is your mom's parties and events, and and you are always such a polite and gracious young host alongside your mom when she has those fabulous parties.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

And Cheney, what about you? The adjustment that you're getting ready to make. Do you think it's gonna what do you think is gonna be the hardest? Do you think it's like not living at home or being around strangers or being in a new environment?

SPEAKER_03 22:12

I'm not that nervous about it because I've always been very like independent. But I'm just not like a very social person in general. I like to sit in my house and sit in my room with my cat and just chill out and do my little grandma activities. Um but I think that's probably gonna be the hardest part for me. But one of my best friends is going as well for the same thing. I'm going and is much more of a social person than I am, and she's gonna like push me into situations like that where I have to be. Are you I kind of hear in your voice that maybe that's not gonna be such a bad thing? I mean, it's gonna be a change just because I'm so used to like my little world of going and doing what I need to do and then coming home and having the rest of the day and all night to myself. But I mean, I did make some friends when I went to orientation and they were really chill. And it wasn't that hard to talk to people as long as I have someone else with me who's like pushing me to do that. Like at orientation, it was my roommate because she's a very talkative person. I'm not. So I think definitely having people there to like help push me to that will encourage me to and you're not an only child, you have some siblings, but you're the youngest.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

And so you like Ellie have kind of been an only child for a little while. Do you think that's gonna be an adjustment? Just having like not necessarily having your grandma's space.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

I probably, yeah, because I'm so used to having like at her house, I have the entire upstairs to myself and I have so much space to like put spread out all my stuff and do whatever I want. But not having nearly as much space and especially having to share such a small space with someone else is gonna be an adjustment.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Yeah, yeah. I would think so.

SPEAKER_04 24:09

And Ellie,

Daughters Join: Hopes And Nerves

SPEAKER_04 24:10

what how do you feel about that? Because you have been an only child, and so you've never had to share space with siblings, but you'll be sharing space with a roommate.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

I'm mainly excited because I think I just like the idea of because I of course I live with my mom, but I'm just excited of having the idea of having someone my age, like in such close proximity to me, like most of the time, because then I'm can just talk to them about stuff that my mom doesn't want to talk about. I love you. But you know, some things you're just like exactly. I don't know anything about that. What are you talking about? I totally get it. I also live upstairs and I'm the only one upstairs, so I also have a lot of room to spread out, but I feel like most of my hobbies are I can just do on my bed because I journal a lot and stuff. And so I can definitely I do like a good like small space. I do like a small space, so I think I don't know, I think I'll be good hopefully.

SPEAKER_04 25:03

And as you're thinking about leaving and going out on your own, what are some of the things that are gonna be hard to leave behind from home?

SPEAKER_00 25:09

I've been trying to figure out which stuff to animals to take because I kind of I wish I could take all of them, but I can't. And I'm very uh attached to my old journals, but uh just for space, I know I can't bring them all. And for reference, I'm on journal number six right now. So I can't just have these six two hundred page journals just taking up space. It's mainly kind of more sentimental stuff, like yeah. Because I know I'm bringing my teddy bear that I got when I was adopted and like I have to. Like I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

I thought you were gonna say my cooking. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 25:48

Or somebody doing the laundry and we'll lose her cooking.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

There'll be some things that you'll be craving. I keep telling her she's gonna be craving some things that I'll cook for when she comes home to visit. Jamie, do you have uh hopes and goals for things outside of the classroom that you hope are gonna happen once she gets to college?

SPEAKER_03 26:08

Kinda. I mean, it's more so just building friendships and relationships with other people there. And like my stepmom's whole family lives down there, so I'd like to get closer to that because I only see them once or twice a year at this point, and just getting out of Madison and getting somewhere else that's not here and exploring other places. So, Taney, what are you gonna be studying in college? Theater design and technology with an emphasis in costuming and makeup.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

So I've known you since you were a little girl, and you've always liked to play dress up and you've always liked to have makeup and you've always been in the theater. What do you want to do with that going forward?

SPEAKER_03 26:50

So after there's a school in Orlando that specializes in like extreme special effects makeup and like prosthetics and stuff like that. And ideally, I would be working on movie sets designing prosthetics for like my go-to example is always like the makeup of Beetlejuice. It would be doing stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Wow, that sounds cool. Do you think that's gonna take you even farther away than Mississippi? Like LA or New York or somewhere?

SPEAKER_03 27:22

Somewhere around there. It's a big thing in like Atlanta right now. Right. So that's probably the closest I'll be to here, but it's not gonna be Mississippi.

SPEAKER_04 27:31

Yeah. What about you, Ellie? What do you plan to study?

SPEAKER_00 27:34

I plan to study psychology because when I was applying for colleges and during orientation in June, I wanted to be a therapist for like young adults, but I've kind of thought about it a little bit more. And it's just it's such a taxing job emotionally. And I don't know because I know once I learn and take the class and stuff, I will be able to grow more and be able to handle that. But I just I've been kind of rethinking it and I've been thinking about going into dentistry. Oh, later on.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

So you know, we've been talking about life pivots. She doesn't have to know right now what she wants to do. You know, it's really I think college is the time to uh to really explore your interest and uh maybe see me more what you know what you like to do, and maybe think you like to do something, but it turns out to be that you meet a professor. I'm always told Ellie, she's gonna get she's gonna meet somebody that sparks something, or she's gonna take a class or read a book or do something that's going to maybe light a fire under her to want to to finally decide. And that may not come for for years. And that's okay, because I think that's what college is about. It is a it is a time to grow up and be away and and spread your wings, be able to figure all that kind of thing out. So there's not really that pressure. I don't feel like there's a pressure right now to to do that. Y'all have been through the pressure already. You got through your senior year, y'all are both high school graduates. That's the most that lots of people get. So y'all are really lucky getting ready to head out.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

So, in thinking back on your time at home and knowing how busy your mom and I am with our jobs and with y'all and the other activities, what do you think we'll be doing now that we've got this time on our hands where we're not washing your clothes or or preparing your meals or attending your functions at school? What do you think we'll be doing back here?

SPEAKER_00 29:30

I think you'll definitely have a lot more like events where your friends get to come over and just have fun. You you work hard and you enjoy it and you're good at it.

Roommates, Space, And Independence

SPEAKER_00 29:40

So I'm assuming of still I mean you're good at college. Thank you. I don't know. I hope you have a lot more like leisure time and just time for for yourself to hang out with the cat.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Thank you. What about you, Chammy? What do you think your mom's gonna be up to once you're once you're out of the

SPEAKER_03 30:00

Well, she's opening her store soon, so that's gonna take up a decent amount of her time. Spend time at the house doing her daily stuff and send me pictures of the cat every day.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Do you have something that you would want me to know that that you're thinking about that maybe you don't want to tell me that you need for me, but you'd like for me to make sure I'm doing it anyway other than cat pictures.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

That's like the bare minimum. That's not a me. I mean, that's not a want. That's a me. The only thing I can really think of is because I journal a lot and I really love it because it's I'm able to like express my emotions and just like get them all on paper and move on. But sometimes like journaling isn't enough. And so I know for especially the first few weeks and months, I'm not really gonna be close enough to one of my peers to be able to be like, hey, this thing's stressing me out, or this has been bothering me. So just because you're already there for me. So just even though there's distance, and I know you know this, but just I think it would be great for me be able to call you and be like, I already drowned all about it, but I just need to talk to a talk to a real person and explain how I'm feeling. So which I like doing with you because you always like listen and really like validate my feelings. You don't ever say, Oh, that's silly. So thanks.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Well, of course, I hope that you do do that, because that's what I'm here for. That's what Serena's here for for Taney. And and it's gonna be, you know, we've had that conversation already. I I felt like I was a grown-up when I went away to college, and I still was sad. There's this like pit in your stomach still when you get into a strange room and a strange environment, and it doesn't really matter if you're an hour and a half away from home or six hours away from home. It's still a change. And it's such a transition and adjustment. And, you know, I told Ellie, I was like, You're gonna want to come home because I wanted to go far, far away. My mom laughs about it now because she she would say, Sheila wanted to go to Cornell, she wanted to go to the University of Hawaii, she wanted to get as far away from home as possible. And then as soon as she went away, she didn't want to come home, you know, and and I would just cry on the payphone in the dorm basement. And and that wasn't me, but uh it was still a big, uh big adjustment to to that. And it took it took the second semester. What about you? You went away.

SPEAKER_04 32:40

I thought about two hours away from home, but I was so into everything once I got there. I know I didn't go home much, and I was that close. Um, but no, I I was just and that's uh that was a very different experience because I I got immediately involved with the grief system and with student government associations and things like that. But you know, Cheney's gonna find her niche through she's already met friends through orientation and the honors college, and the theater culture where she's headed is very close-knit and tight, and it's a it's a big the the she'll find her group there. And I I don't worry about her, like like she said, she's very independent. She was she's gone off to camp since she was very young, and I I don't know. Um she'll probably come home some. I asked her this recently, but uh she won't be home every weekend for sure.

SPEAKER_03 33:33

It's like our dynamic at home. It's like we're two separate people, like renting the same place to live in. Because she talks about this all the time. It's like, you know, we go about our days at night, we sit down, have dinner, talk for like 10 minutes, and then we don't see each other until like dinner the next day.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

I feel like that is we get that. I get that. Totally get that. I've told you before there's a comedian named Leanne Morgan who has this funny, funny bit that she does about her daughter getting ready to go to college. She said that summer before she went to college, she was so mean, and she would come home every day and like they

Majors, Pivots, And Creative Dreams

SPEAKER_01 34:10

couldn't even eat cereal in the house because it just bugged the daughter so much. And she said she was just hateful to her daddy and me. So, you know, by the time she left, we were kind of like, okay, see you. And she said, that's just God's way of making it easy for you to like have them leave the nest to make it so aggravating. And I mean I'm not sure. No, no, but like right.

SPEAKER_02 34:30

But I'm sitting here like, did I do that?

SPEAKER_01 34:32

No, no, no. But for for us, I feel like the last couple of years of growth that you've had and growing up that you've had, and us being able to communicate better as adults, well, we're not we're not having that. I would say a couple of years ago, it was much more of that. But now that you've grown up, so but that being said, you've had outside interests. You've had a boyfriend, you've had theater, you've had school. So it's not like we're spending every minute together. You know, I mean, I know you're in the house, and you know I'm in the house, and there's always some security and safety and that warm feeling that you're in the house. But it has been a parting of the ways and in a kind of getting us ready for this. Because it's not like we're laying on the sofa every day hanging up, even though I would like to.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

We enjoy we enjoy spending time together if we're not as dependent on each other. Right. It's not like we have to spend time together or my day is ruined. Right. It's like, oh, I want to spend time with my mom because I can, but also we can not be spending time and just be in the house together. Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Which I like.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

No, I do too. I I mean, I'm I think that's the thing I'm gonna miss the most is just knowing you're upstairs. Upstairs and you're safe, you know. Yeah. I mean, and under under one roof is nice.

SPEAKER_04 35:51

It's gonna be different for me because well, when Cheney was little, we called her my Velcro child. Because she was stuck all the time, everywhere I went. She slept with me until she was 13 years old. From the time she was two to thirteen, she slept with me. Did do that. I didn't know that. But also just the age difference in she and her siblings because her oldest sister is 29. So for over 29 years, I've had kids in my home. And this will be the first time that I've not had kids in the home when she goes off to school in two weeks. So that's gonna be very different. So, how are you and how have you been preparing for that? I hope she doesn't feel like I have been too excited about it, but I I'm excited about it. I hope she doesn't feel like I've been pushing. Come on, it's some kind of something. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

Um, but you know, I am excited about it. We had dinner with some friends Friday night, and Ellie's like, my mom's so excited about being an empty nester. She just uses, she throws that term around all the time.

SPEAKER_00 36:56

Every time it's just us and she talks about it, she's like, I'm gonna have a big party to celebrate, all my friends are gonna come over, and it's just gonna be so great. And then whenever people are over, she's like, Yeah, I'm gonna miss my daughter. And everyone is just gonna miss you.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

I did the other day, and I said, Don't leave me. You're leaving me, don't leave me. Yeah, I'm sorry. That's okay. Yeah, I think again, that's why Serena and I, one of the reasons we started this podcast was to talk about that dichotomy of, you know, on the one hand, so thrilled and proud of both of you and excited for you because we just know it's gonna be this launching pad to just your grown-up existence in life. You're gonna both learn so much and enjoy so much, not just in the classroom, but outside the classroom. And then we get to sort of figure out our lives too at that point as grown-ups and people who don't have to be home to cook dinner and those types of things. So it's exciting all the way around, I think.

SPEAKER_04 38:00

And I I think going into it, I hope you both realize that you think that your friends here are, you know, your friends that are gonna be your friends forever, but I'm here to tell you you haven't met your best friends in life yet. That's ahead of you. You will stay in touch with a couple of your friends from childhood and high school, but for the most part, the friends you make in college will be your friends that you you stay tight with the rest of your life because it's such a unique phase in life where you're not quite out on your own, but you're you know, you're not at home anymore. And so you're becoming a young adult, you're forging your pathway for life, and so who who aligns with that and just the friendships that you make over the next couple of years are gonna be those that you cherish for the rest of your life.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

We talk about success a lot. And we talked about it in our podcast before. For you girls, what do you think uh what do you think success means for you in your life at this point at at 19, 18, and 19 years old?

SPEAKER_00 39:01

Like in a perfect world where I don't have to like pay rent and stuff, I would just feel so successful to just be in a little ceramic studio making my plates

What Parents Will Do Now

SPEAKER_00 39:10

all day and selling them.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

So let me phrase it this way. Some people your age, kids your age, or they're getting ready to go to college or or even grad school, they think success is making a hundred thousand dollars a year and driving a fancy car and living in a big house. Like that's what success would mean to them. So what I'm hearing from you is you're more a contentedness is gonna mean you've had the success. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Yeah, I would rather be able to go into work and do something that I really enjoy every day instead of doing a job that I'm okay with, but making like a big amount of money. I mean, of course, money's important because it is, but I don't I don't really want to have a job just because I get paid this much. I hate the job, but I get paid this much. I want to have a job. So like I don't really care about that. I just like doing it.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

I think if I had to wish for success for you, it would be that you found something to do with your life in a in a job setting. Because as you said, everybody's got to make their own way. And and I think that finding something that you do that you love to do that has a passion to it and makes you feel fulfilled and you get paid for it, is just the icing on the cake. You know, it's it's something to strive for. So I love hearing that from you.

SPEAKER_04 40:38

So as y'all prepare to leave the mess, what advice do y'all have for us?

SPEAKER_00 40:42

I guess my advice is you don't have to start doing everything just because you're like I don't want you to bite off more than you can chew and overwhelm yourself. That's good advice. I just want you to do whatever you want to do and makes you happy. I don't want you to feel like you have to do all this and that and this and that.

SPEAKER_01 41:02

That's really good advice. Because I tend to do that on overdo.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

You just like to do stuff, you're a doer, which is great, but it's just I don't want you to burn yourself out.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

What do you think about this podcast taking up my time?

SPEAKER_00 41:17

I think this is good. You do. I don't think this will be negative in some ways. I mean, sure, sometimes you'll get stressed about certain stuff that stuff about it, but it won't like the stress won't take over your life. Because you've you enjoy it and you're doing it with one of your closest friends. So I think it's I really like that you're doing it. I think you're gonna have a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03 41:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

What about you, Chammy?

SPEAKER_03 41:40

I think it's a little crazy, but at the same time, y'all are both so passionate about it. And I mean, she's told me it's been something y'all been talking about doing for who knows how long. And I think it's great that y'all have finally reached a point in your life where you're able to do that. Like, just enjoy your passions and do whatever you want at this point.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

Thank you. What do y'all think about us talking? We don't we haven't said anything bad about you on the podcast, but what do you think about us being kind of out in the world now on the airwaves, on Apple, on Apple and Spotify, wherever you listen to the podcast, YouTube, Instagram? What do you think about all of a sudden we're I feel like bursting into the public world in a way that neither of us has really ever done that before. What do you what do y'all think about that? Is it embarrassing a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 42:40

I just think it's really good that you guys are having this creative outlet. And like you, I don't know about you, but I know that you really like to have a routine with stuff. Like you're able to be so creative, but you do like to have a routine. And so this is a way to be so creative, but it you have to have like certain steps and a routine to it. And so I think that's really good for you specifically, because you know, you like to be organized. And I'm not I'm not embarrassed at all by the I don't know why I would

Success, Money, And Meaning

SPEAKER_00 43:10

be. I think it's exciting, I think it's fun. I think it kind of first hit me on Friday when we had people over when Mrs. Pope was like, I was just scrolling and I and I saw your face and you're doing a podcast. And it was just weird to think, like, oh my gosh, she just found it organically without me like telling her about it, which is really good because then you're gonna get more listeners. It just I think that was the first time it hit me, like you're out there, right? But it's exciting. I'm excited for you. Well, thank you. We're excited too.

SPEAKER_03 43:46

It it is a little strange to be like, oh my god, my mom has a podcast. But at the same time, I agree with what you said. It's a good way for y'all to have like a creative outlet because she's like an overly creative person. It like comes out redo the house so many times. Yeah, right. Like you impulsively redoing the entire upstairs last November. Crazy. I thought you were just going absolutely insane in that moment. And now she has a whole new story. Right, dude.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

And now she's you do it too.

SPEAKER_03 44:19

I know I do it too. Now she's opening a store to do all of her, let all her little creative words out. And this also gives her another way to do it. And I think it's just gonna be really good for both of y'all.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

I keep thinking it's gonna be fun for you guys to scroll through social media and all of a sudden, like, there's my mom. It's a good way to keep in touch with this as well, you know. You don't have to write letters now, but but you'll get to see all of our reels and all the other places where we'll end up being, I think.

SPEAKER_04 44:53

Well, I think we're gonna lead into the next segment that will be kind of more reflections from motherhood between you and me and our thoughts on the girls leaving.

SPEAKER_01 45:03

When it comes to them being away and coming home, what do you think that's gonna be like that transition of okay, now they're gone and we've tidied up after them in their spaces, and then we've gotten used to having the nest be, you know, the way it's gonna be. What do you think it's gonna be like when they come home and kind of re-enter after we've been sort of doing our doing our deal?

SPEAKER_04 45:33

Well, I think for me, I I'm very much looking forward to that. I've said earlier, I really have enjoyed having adult children. Even though Chaney, you know, age-wise is an adult, she still has been just, you know, my my baby, the getting the baby graduated from high school and getting out. So leaping into that next phase of the relationship between the two of us. I'm excited about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

I will say that the only time my parents and I did not get along was when I would come home from college early on, when they had kind of gotten settled in their lives, and it was at a time where I the listeners have heard I'm from New Orleans, but we would come home from school, my friends and I, and would go out at 10:30 or 11. So the parents were going to bed, we were going out, and then we would stay out super late and then want to sleep the whole rest of the day. And they would be like, TikTok, it's time to wake up, you know. And so it was, you know, me kind of coming in like the wreck of the Hesperus, and then leaving

Advice For The Parents

SPEAKER_01 46:40

with my mom would say that I would go grocery shopping in her pantry, which I would, and she'd come, she'd say, Where are all my canned goods? And I'm like, Well, ignore those, you know. So I would say that was really the only time that that we did not get along famously was during that. There was a you know, a few years there where I would come home and kind of take advantage of things. But with Ellie, I don't really suspect that that'll that'll happen with her necessarily. I think it's gonna be more of me just being super excited and wanting to be a little bit clingy when she comes home, I think.

SPEAKER_03 47:12

I was about to say I don't think she'll have to worry about that. I'm like her, I'm at home in my pajamas by like 7 30 every night.

SPEAKER_00 47:20

Yeah. Taney has an old soul. Yeah, I'm not quite a hearty animal. I don't really. Once it gets past a certain time, I'm just my social battery's gone. And I like I physically cannot talk to anyone. Like I have to go have a comfy blanket and lay down. I need it.

SPEAKER_03 47:39

My party consists of me, the cat, the couch, and my Xbox.

SPEAKER_01 47:45

That's funny that these are our daughters, Serena, but I think you and I had very different college lives. We definitely do. We definitely do. But I'm happy about that. I'm not sad at all. And Ellie's going to a school that is it's a quiet campus. It's small and it's it's pretty quiet. And I mean, I they may have some undercurrent that I don't know about. I'm sure that they will have fun in their own way, but definitely a different environment, but suits her very nicely. You know, she's not necessarily looking for what I might have been looking for or found in college.

SPEAKER_04 48:19

One of the things I think it's very important for both of y'all to remember is, well, two things. Number one, we laugh, y'all roll your eyes, we're like, take a picture, take a picture. You can't ever go back and recreate that moment. So take all the pictures. Take all the pictures, be silly, take all the pictures. And then number two, go on every road trip. Because that's something you don't get a redo on. You know, if if you've got friends that are from out of state and they invite you home for the weekend, go see this new place and meet a new family and learn about a different community. Or if there's a concert two hours away. I'm not telling you to cut class, but go to the concert because this is I'm just gonna it's just such a unique time in life. You you don't get this these four years back, or however long it takes you to get through a school where you've still got some financial support, but you've got the freedom to go figure out where where you know what drives you in developing all those new friendships.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

So and I would just say take the pictures, but do not post them. Yeah. I do we we always had cameras, you know, like little disposable cameras, probably not in college so much as my young adulthood after college that became a thing, like the throwaway cameras. Or I had one friend that would always bring her real camera and take pictures. And so I have a lot of those that had to get developed at the you know the photo developing place. And every once in a while I'll go back and look at them, but all the time I'm glad we did not have social media when I was in college and the thereafter. Keep the pictures to yourself for the most part, I think. Well, Serena, you want to move into one of our favorite segments of our podcast? Rapid fire pairs well with. There's no right or wrong answer, it's just kind of a fun time that we like to do.

SPEAKER_04 50:06

I will lead off with you, Ellie. Okay, college

Going Public With The Podcast

SPEAKER_04 50:10

pairs well with scrapbooking, like junk journaling.

SPEAKER_01 50:15

Okay, okay. I think you'll be doing a lot of that in college.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

Because I like to because sometimes I don't have the best memory. So in my journal, I'll save like receipts from shows I went to and I'll print out pictures and I'll put that there. It's like a little memory. So and I think with experiencing so many new things, just like saving little scraps of memories and putting them in there. I really enjoy it, and it means a lot to me. So I feel like I'm already doing it now, so I'm gonna do it a lot in college.

SPEAKER_04 50:44

I have my journals and scrapbooks starting back to 1981. Oh wow, when I was in the first grade. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 50:53

They're pretty funny too. Jamie, dorm room must have pairs well with my cat. You wish you could bring your cat.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

He is coming with me. What? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

Really? You're allowed to have a cat on campus?

SPEAKER_04 51:10

He's been qualified as a support and an emotional support animal.

SPEAKER_03 51:14

Really? Which cat? The little one, gambit. That's my baby.

SPEAKER_01 51:19

Oh, well, I wish he would have told Allie that because now she's gonna want her cat. You would not let me take the cat. I would not let you take the cat. I my cat's mine.

SPEAKER_03 51:28

Part of the part of the deal when he came home was he had to go come with me.

SPEAKER_04 51:31

So I said he can live here for a year, but after that, and you go off to college. If he didn't go with you, he will find a new home. So then she had to be.

SPEAKER_03 52:00

What does your roommate think? Oh, she thinks he's the cutest little thing. Oh, good. She loves him. Okay, good. I send her videos of him like every single day, and she's like, Yay!

SPEAKER_01 52:08

Oh, that's so cute. That is so cute. I don't think I don't think you're allowed to have animals, maybe fish. I think it's only fish.

SPEAKER_00 52:14

Uh-huh. All right, Ellie. Missing your mom pairs well with really long FaceTime calls, like longer than she wants them to be. Of me just rambling. This is what I did today. This is what I had for lunch. This is my outfit.

SPEAKER_01 52:32

Outfit of the day, OTD. She's not going to want me to do outfit of the day.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

I can assure you, she will not want to do outfit of the day. I'll send her an outfit and she'll be like, do you really want to wear that? Is that really the image you want to give to other people? I'm going to a two-hour geology lab. I'm not getting dressed up for that.

SPEAKER_01 52:55

I'd be like, could you just not be in your pajamas going to campus today? Even though I know that's what most college kids look like. I know. Um Shane, freedom pairs well with I'm gonna say adventuring.

SPEAKER_03 53:11

Oh like exploring more about the world, but mostly about myself as a person and who I really am and that sort of stuff. Yeah, that's exciting. Zip lining upside down. Yeah, jumping off cliffs.

SPEAKER_01 53:28

Did you do the zipline that your mom did?

SPEAKER_03 53:30

She's got a picture of me upside down on it.

SPEAKER_01 53:32

Oh my gosh. She sent me that picture of her bungee jumping. Cliff jumping, yeah. Like you don't need to be doing that, right? When we're getting ready to start this new podcast.

SPEAKER_04 53:41

It was so funny. It was fun. That was a good bonding moment for us. And with Elizabeth, my stepdaughter, the three of us. It was really funny.

SPEAKER_03 53:49

Told someone about that video the other day and was like, I mean, it looks like you just like dropped a tissue and it like just crumpled on the ground. Me? Yeah. I had my eyes closed and I hit the bottom and he was like, Take your life. She hits the ground and just like did it hurt.

SPEAKER_04 54:03

I mean, you're in a harness. Uh-huh. And so when you jump off, you free fall for a minute, and then your harness catches and they lower

Coming Home Dynamics

SPEAKER_04 54:10

you down. But I wouldn't open my eyes. I didn't know what I that I was getting lowered down and how close I was to the ground. So my feet hit, and I just kind of fell into it. It was fun, though. That's awesome. All right, Ellie, new chapters pair well with. I guess new people. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 54:27

Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited to meet new people.

SPEAKER_01 54:29

If you haven't been able to tell already, Janey, goodbyes pair well with.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

New beginnings. Nice. Nice. I like that.

SPEAKER_04 54:41

And one of my very favorite songs from college is closing time. And there's a line in that song that says, Every new beginning is some other beginnings end. And I love that line. Yeah, that's a great line. I love that. Alright, last one. Ellie. Orientation week pairs well with being nervous.

SPEAKER_00 55:01

It's like because that's when you meet all the people and all the teachers and being nervous and just a bunch of information. This is where this class is in this building last week go to that building. And my campus is very spread out. So it's gonna be a lot of walking, which I don't really mind now, but I haven't really thought about it in the context of Georgia Snow. So I'm excited, but I'm also like I'm gonna have to just get so much information in such a short amount of time. Yeah. But it's worth a feel.

SPEAKER_01 55:36

I'm kind of excited about not having to know what her schedule is and like get her there. And she's really gonna have to do that on her own. And I don't want to be part of it. Like I don't want to not in a mean way, but I really don't want to be the kind of mom that's like, okay, you need to wake up at eight. I'm gonna send you an alarm and you gotta get dressed. Like when she graduated from high school and we went to that last baccalaureate mass, uh, and the last time I was gonna be in that particular building, and she they were really gonna graduate her, and like it was gonna be over. I was like, I'm so happy. I never have to care about your schedule anymore, or get you here anymore, or have a parent-teacher conference anymore, or do those kinds of things. I mean, you've been doing it for 20 some ideas. I mean, I only had to do it for one kid, too, but I'm excited about that part. Like, she's got to figure that out. I'll I'll help her with her schedule to the extent that I can, but she knows that she's gonna get up there and have to advocate for herself. For the most part, I'm looking forward to hearing from her and having the FaceTimes and not being involved in the details unless she needs me to. Otherwise, I'm gonna kind of let her let her in the school handle it. Thank you for not micromanaging me. I don't want to I really don't. As much as it might seem like I have wanted to micromanage, I really don't want to micromanage anymore. I'm good.

SPEAKER_00 57:04

Anymore.

SPEAKER_01 57:06

Well, I had to for some to get you to get you to where you were at that graduation. I had to do a little micromanaging.

SPEAKER_04 57:13

Well, girls, we're proud of y'all both. We're excited for this next chapter in your life. You know, there's a lot of parents out there that are sending kids off to school soon that maybe are feeling more restless than I think Sheila and I feel. We're very confident in y'all and in your ability to take care of yourself and to re represent your family well and build friendships and build your character and get your education and then pursue whatever it is your life choices are that, you know, spark your passion, your creativity to where you feel like you've leaded leading, led a successful life.

SPEAKER_01 57:52

And I think there's there's parents out there, and of course I've experiences with my friends and family who have had kids go off to college. There's this mix of joy and grief, real grief, about their lives changing. And I think understanding that that mix is gonna be there, and it's okay to have both things occur at the same time. You know, that two things can be true. And I feel like even for me, who has been, like I said earlier, cavalier about having this emptiness space start, I'm gonna go through some some grief as I come home in the evenings and you know, I might not have to make dinner, but I'm gonna probably miss that a little bit and be a little bit sad that that's gonna be a change, but it's another chapter. And so, you know, it's closing

Take The Trip, Keep The Photos

SPEAKER_01 58:40

time, but it's beginning time somewhere else, right? And so I think that as we move forward in the podcast and discuss how well I know our girls are gonna be doing and seeing them go through what they're gonna have to go through and us go through that. It'll be interesting to sort of journal that as we are continuing on our podcast and maybe having other friends on that talk about what their journey's like. Because it's gonna be different for everybody.

SPEAKER_04 59:08

Well, thank you again, girls. We appreciate y'all giving up your day to hang out with your moms one last time and in a form that will be here for all eternity now.

SPEAKER_01 59:17

That's right. I know, I know. So cheers to what comes next if we were if we were toasting, that's what we'd be saying. Cheers to both of you guys.

SPEAKER_04 59:25

So if you're out there listening and you're in the same boat, trying to figure out what to do with this new time on your hands, this new freedom, this void, maybe in your home, you're not alone. We're here alongside of you, figuring out as we go too.

SPEAKER_01 59:39

That's right. Hearing our girls' voices today and their hopes and their dreams for their own future, it hit me, but in a good way. I'm excited about it. I hope our audience could hear our excitement, but also understanding that we're being reflective too. And it's a big monumental move for all of us. stepping out of the world and we got 'em. We got 'em there, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:04

We did it. We've launched these two young ladies out into the world. And what that means for us might be more text in the evenings with our girlfriends, more of your fabulous dinner parties with a little wine, or maybe some more travel, or focusing on our health. Those are the choices that we get to make now.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:22

Yeah. Our next chapter can pair well with rediscovering, new beginnings. And obviously continuing on with this passion project that we're doing here with our podcast and you with your new business and me trying to work on what I want to do next in my career. So I'm excited to have to have this outlet to share with others and to hear from others what they're doing and how they are experiencing these next chapters in their lives. And I hope that you all will share with us your next chapters. We'd love to be inspired by what you've got going on and how you're handling things in in your own respective world. So we'll see you next time. Be gentle with yourselves continue to be curious. Keep working on your next chapters and we'll look forward to reporting back during the year about how our girls are doing. Sounds good.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:15

See you next time. The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Although your hosts are attorneys, pairs well with does not provide legal, medical, financial or professional advice. Listening to this podcast does not create an attorney client relationship. Always seek the advice of qualified professionals regarding any specific questions or concerns you may have