Jo Whiley has spoken openly about many difficult topics, including her reluctance to take HRT and why she later changed her mind, to the heartbreaking challenge of caring for elderly relatives while juggling the rest of life’s chaos.
During the excellent Dig It podcast the presenter hosts with Zoe Ball, nothing is left off the table when it comes to discussing current affairs, and issues affecting midlife women.
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Zoe also gave her take on having an empty house. “As parents, we have that [empty nest feeling], then the kids come back, then they stay for ages and eat you out of house and home,” she says.
She adds that just when you start to love having them at home once more, “they go again,” and the process can start all over again.
Zoe also has a positive approach to having no children living in the house. “You can re-claim your space, have some calm – the lovely smell of new carpets, I love that smell,” she says while alluding to both the benefits of a quiet living environment, and Jo being able to fit new carpets now her nest is emptying.
“You seem like you have an air of calm about you,” Zoe tells her friend, adding, “you’re dressed as though you have an air of calm about you,” as Jo indicates her white, casual outfit.
Saying goodbye to her daughter wasn’t entirely without tears for Jo, but she recognised those feelings and then moved forwards.
“Last week there was a lot of emotional turmoil and I was just trying to contain everything, but I feel like I’ve faced up to it – I’ve been emotional,” she shares.
Her feelings have been helped by being excited her daughter has found a place of her own. “I’m so happy for them,” she says, adding, “they’ve been sending me photos of their floors being sanded, and I can remember how exciting it is.”
Jo concludes by saying positively, “It’s that whole thing of having a new house and new life, and now I’ve got my house and my new life. I think I was a bit scared, but it’s OK.”
Her closing message for others going through the same thing is, “The anticipation is so much worse than the reality, it always is.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.womanandhome.com ’
