Middle Adulthood Research Paper

At 49 years of age, I am a little less than half way through my middle adulthood years. Mentally however, I feel like have lived a lifetime several times over. My early adulthood years were full of many changes and transitions, my middle years, while more stable than my early years, have been filled with life changing events that have tested my faith, strength and determination. I jumped into my early adulthood years with both feet running forward. Moving to Okinawa, Japan was a rather quick, ‘not-thought-through’ decision that set the course for years of “flying by the seat of my pants” so to speak. As noted in the text, young adults are more likely to be risk-takers than older adults. I most certainly fit that assumption. As I mentioned …show more content…
I gave birth to our fourth child just prior to my 39th birthday, five years after having my daughter. Shortly after his birth, as a mother, I knew in my heart that something was not quite right. The next two years were full of stress and frustration trying to figure out what was going on with our little boy. At 18 months he had a seizure and the months that followed were filled with endless testing and doctors appointments. Finally at 24 months, we got a diagnosis. Our son had autism and a chromosome disorder. It was both a time of sadness and a time of relief. Relief, because now we had answers to our questions and could start to move forward with treatment. Having a son with autism completely changed everything in my life. Everything, from the way I viewed motherhood, dealt with my other children, interacted with my husband, time management, relying on others and my view of other people was completely transformed. My idea of “perfection” was shattered and I battled (mostly with myself) to get back my “perfect” life. Not being one to sit around and wait for someone to make things better for me, I got to work at getting back to some kind of normalcy within our family. 99% of caring for our son fell on my shoulders. Rather than being resentful or angry with this, I accepted the challenge. My husband, while he left it to me to figure out Callan’s needs, was by my side the …show more content…
My oldest son is now away at college; my second son will be graduating this year and will join his older brother at NAU. I am on course to graduate with my second bachelor’s degree in the next two years. By then it will just be Callan and me at home. I will have a new career that I am sure I will love and I am certain will be fulfilling. I know the change I made in my life this year will save me from, or lessen, the physical effects of aging. I now have time to consistently work out and my leisure time has increased thus reducing my stress levels. Now that my children are older, I am enjoying the “fruits of my labor” so to speak. They are all thriving and doing excellent. I feel so proud at all they have accomplished despite what they have gone through in their short lives. They are strong, independent

Show More