Author Archives

Rebecca Friese

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Your Most Important Goal

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At the end of every year, we naturally start thinking about the coming new year. We make plans; we set goals.

But after the year we’ve all had in 2020, how do we plan for 2021? So much is still uncertain! Now we know that even the best of plans can be completely derailed by circumstances we cannot control.

Six years ago I wrote the following article about the most important goal we can set. I’m reprising it here, as it is very appropriate for a time of a global pandemic and recurring lockdowns. (Read to the end for a timely epilogue.)

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For Parents with Young Adult Children Living at Home

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Sometimes it’s the unexpected things that are the hardest to handle.

Most parents expect that once their children have been raised and are young adults, the family will smoothly transition into the “empty nest” stage. The kids will be living on their own — away at college, working, living with roommates, eventually getting married and starting families of their own — and the parents will enjoy some well-earned freedom, and everyone will live happily ever after.

Reality can come as a bit of a surprise.

The truth is that most families don’t move seamlessly from their youngest child’s graduation from high school straight into the empty nest. A recent analysis by the Pew Research Center found that in 2014, 32% of adults aged 18-32 were living in their parents’ home.

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