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Empty Nest....Not Empty Hangar


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Sooo, my last kid is heading off to college in a couple of weeks and we happen to own a Mooney.  This is a bittersweet and proud moment in our lives as parents.  I'm looking to dredge up some stories from you guys who are already on the other side, and of course, "happen to own a Mooney."  I can't see the forest for the trees just yet but am selfishly looking forward to the opportunity to fly a lot more.  

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Congrats INA, we are about  a year ahead of you. It gets pretty weird around the house when the kids leave. You will get used to it. Take time to re-court your wife, take her on dates. Meet her for spur of the moment lunches. Take weekend trips, visit new restaurants, go to concerts, enjoy each other's company.  It doesn't take long to adjust and the transition to empty nest is actually a pretty cool experience 

We use the Mooney to visit our kids often and have been flying more than ever. My youngest is about 1.5 Mooney hours from where I grew up so we have been able to visit her and my family back home all in the same trip. Thats a four hour Mooney flight. My oldest is only 45 Mooney minutes away making for an easy day trip. This might be a good time to work on a new rating or do that Bahamas trip, etc.

Hang in there, report back and let us know what works as your best therapy.

Cheers,

T

 

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We use our Mooney for the mission she is best suited....travel. Both sons are out of the nest, but not fully functioning adults quite yet so we travel to visit and give some support. We have family at Carolina Beach NC and drove there once per summer since I was a child, but now the 10 hour drive is a 2 hour adventure and we go 4-5 times every summer instead of once. We've flown into MDW and many other large airports for conferences and I used her for travel to work for the past two years and really enjoyed that. Been to Destin and other destinations in the gulf more times than I could count. 

Enjoy your old life and cherish the memories, and embrace your new life too. 

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Our youngest just headed back on Monday; she's a junior this year. Jeez we couldn't wait. It was fun to have her here this summer, she was working as an intern, but rather disruptive to our schedule.

Having a plane is great for part-time empty nesters. We can head off on weekend trips and not burn any vacation days. At airplane speeds we can go a long ways in a short time. Plus, not stuck on an airline schedule, if our departure afternoon frees up we can leave early.

Enjoy your empty nester time.



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Thanks y’all, to be continued from my end on this.  I did just renew my customs sticker and passports.  I like the terms part time empty nester and not fully functioning adults because that’s more of the reality.  All of us MSers are at some stage of the Mooney timeline. 

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Especially hard on Kelly (my wife). She started to really “mother” me and our dogs...a whole heap a lovin’.  It is definitely a transition, but really allows a couple to re-ignite a bond and passion of a relationship.  Enjoy the ride!  Trust me there is light out there.  They are a plane flight away and they appreciate you and “get you” a lot more with absence.

Edited by MyNameIsNobody
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I happen to like being an empty-nester. My oldest just earned his Master's Degree from UW in Seattle and landed a great job working in Amazon's Global Security Department. I am proud to say that he is now officially off of the family payroll.

My daughter graduated with her undergrad last year and is living and working in Manhattan. Unfortunately, with cost of living being what it is in NYC, I'm helping her out with rent.

My flying hours in the Mooney are down since graduation since my wife and I used it a lot to fly up to Tallahassee. I will say this, going from a seven hour car ride to less than 2.5 hours in the Mooney was a real game changer. I would often fly up there to pick them up and be home in less time that it took to drive one way.

While the days when they were small kids was fun, I enjoy their company more as adults. We all met in Europe last month and had a really great time. It's really nice to slip into a bar after a busy day and have a drink and adult conversation than chasing them around a theme park as 8 year olds.

What they say is absolutely true, life begins when the kids are out of the house and the dog dies.

 

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What they say is absolutely true, life begins when the kids are out of the house and the dog dies.


That's funny. Our dog is 17 years old. We never expected her to live this long. Once she dies we won't get another dog. We want to travel too much.



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3 minutes ago, Wayne Cease said:


That's funny. Our dog is 17 years old. We never expected her to live this long. Once she dies we won't get another dog. We want to travel too much.
 

We purposely did not get another dog. The freedom that my wife and I have enjoyed since to simply pick up and go has been priceless. No worrying about the trouble and cost of boarding or having to cancel plans if the dog is ill.

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3 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said:

We purposely did not get another dog. The freedom that my wife and I have enjoyed since to simply pick up and go has been priceless. No worrying about the trouble and cost of boarding or having to cancel plans if the dog is ill.

Horses - aka 1200 lb. two year old. Can't kennel them, have to be fed at fairly regular times, and can find interesting and unique ways to injure themselves. And if taken care of, can live over 30 years. Currently have two mares - 28 and 30 years old - so when we want to go out of town, we have to have a "horse" sitter take care of them.

The last dog lived to 18, the kids have both been gone for 6+ years, and the cats are so low maintenance as to hardly be noticed. Once we are through with these last two horses, there are no more coming as we are moving to Lakeland when I retire in about 2 years. And if they are still around at that point, they go to the equine rescue where my wife sits on the board and will be funded by us for the remainder of their lives. 

Our animals and kids have all been a big part of our lives, but I sometimes envy those folks who truly have empty nests. I bet they can sleep later than 5:30 on weekends, if they want.

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4 minutes ago, Oldguy said:

Horses - aka 1200 lb. two year old. Can't kennel them, have to be fed at fairly regular times, and can find interesting and unique ways to injure themselves. And if taken care of, can live over 30 years. Currently have two mares - 28 and 30 years old - so when we want to go out of town, we have to have a "horse" sitter take care of them.

 

There is a Yiddish expression for such a situation: Oy

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Interesting thread. My kids, for some unknown reason, could not wait to leave. When my daughter turned sixteen and we gave her a car, that was the last we saw of her. My son left for UT-Austin at the tender age of 16 and that was pretty much the last we saw of him. Now they both live in Manhattan, have advanced degrees, busy jobs and visits are just a couple of times a year.

Big house, two busy Boomers, it's nice--I like my space as does my wife. More time for flying? No, need to wait for retirement for that and it is imminent. She's first, this January, but that won't change the flying :(

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5 hours ago, Oldguy said:

Horses - aka 1200 lb. two year old. Can't kennel them, have to be fed at fairly regular times, and can find interesting and unique ways to injure themselves. And if taken care of, can live over 30 years. Currently have two mares - 28 and 30 years old - so when we want to go out of town, we have to have a "horse" sitter take care of them.

@Oldguy you need to come live in our fly-in community!  We have an equestrian facility next door.  My wife's horse is taken care of whether she's here, or not. 

Owning a horse costs only slightly more than owning a couple of planes?  ^_^

http://highflightfarm.net/

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2 minutes ago, Mooneymite said:

@Oldguy you need to come live in our fly-in community!  We have an equestrian facility next door.  My wife's horse is taken care of whether she's here, or not. 

Owning a horse costs only slightly more than owning a couple of planes?  ^_^

http://highflightfarm.net/

Or consider Jumbolair and live next door to John Revolta.

 

https://www.ocalahorseproperties.com/property-details/1513-ocala-property-for-sale/

 

 

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My youngest is  just starting  Ga. Tech on the Hope scholarship and my oldest transferred to UGA from Auburn a couple years back because he also qualifies for the Hope. In addition to being very proud of them I am greatful to them for not going to  expensive private universities which would have seriously dinged my aviation budget. And as far as the kids being grown and out of the house, I love it. I have a couple of friends who are about my age who are on second marriages with much younger wifes who have just had babies after getting a first set of children grown and gone. My hat is off to them because I can’t imagine going through all of that again.

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18 minutes ago, Bravoman said:

My youngest is  just starting  Ga. Tech on the Hope scholarship and my oldest transferred to UGA from Auburn a couple years back because he also qualifies for the Hope. In addition to being very proud of them I am greatful to them for not going to  expensive private universities which would have seriously dinged my aviation budget. And as far as the kids being grown and out of the house, I love it. I have a couple of friends who are about my age who are on second marriages with much younger wifes who have just had babies after getting a first set of children grown and gone. My hat is off to them because I can’t imagine going through all of that again.

Amen brother, on all accounts.

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See if I have this right...

 

Trying to not celebrate too soon... but...

There comes a time in human events... when the children have all grown up

...

 

you prepped them well...

you taught them checklists...

you showed them how to avoid distractions...

They’re not afraid to check their work and know to expect some random human memory flaws...

 

They are fully prepped for college student life, in a Mooney kind of way... :)

 

We got our M20C 18 years ago... So the grand kids could know their grand parents really well... that worked really well...

 

Now the 18 year old is starting college in Boston....

 

Go Mooney and Mooney lifestyle!

 

Let the second honeymoon begin!

Best regards,

-a-

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6 hours ago, carusoam said:

See if I have this right...

 

Trying to not celebrate too soon... but...

There comes a time in human events... when the children have all grown up

...

They are fully prepped for college student life, in a Mooney kind of way... :)

 

Now the 18 year old is starting college in Boston....

 

Go Mooney and Mooney lifestyle!

 

Let the second honeymoon begin!

Best regards,

-a-

Anthony, congrats on reaching the Second Honeymoon stage! I also sense some motivation to pick IFR back up again. Welcome back to Adult Education! It's not really so bad . . . Got my PPL in my 40s while going to night school for my MSE, waited until that was over to pursue IFR.

Have fun, and try to study at least a little . . . . .

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