In 2009, I launched a blog called “Tales From the Carpool“. At the time, I was up to my eyeballs raising three kids while trying to maintain a thriving freelance business. The blog was filled with the challenges that my friends and I encountered daily. Sometimes it was fun and games. Sometimes the struggle was real.

As I said in the blog, “The best stories always begin with ‘once upon a time’ and ‘once upon a time’ for any woman with kids begins in the carpool. It’s the one place where we get to tell it like it is…at least until the kids arrive.” The carpool lane was our safe space. That spot, engines idling and A/C on blast, is where we would reconnect, have a quick laugh and compare notes. Sometimes, we had a few minutes; sometimes, only seconds, but it always made a significant impact on our well-being.

Now here’s the thing: your mom was not wrong. The days will fly by. In fact, the years will fly by.

You will find yourself sitting in a car that likely doesn’t have even a hint of Goldfish cracker dust and that might not even have the capacity for more than four passengers and see a landscape is drastically different. You are no longer in the carpool lane. You may no longer readily self-identify as a parent.

In what feels like the blink of an eye, the kids have graduated from high school and possibly college. They have their own lives, their own jobs, their own friends. Maybe even their own place. They no longer need your daily, hands-on support. Congratulations!

And with that change comes something bigger: time back. We have ability to augment our lives with new pursuits. For some us, it’s a career change. For others, it’s charting a new adventure. For many of us, it may include caring for older parents or navigating new health concerns. We have more time–not necessarily to slow down–but to focus on other interests, whether that’s our friends, our hobbies, our communities, our government or our environment.

I believe that many of us are in the same place. We’ve left one life and are embarking on a new one. Our once familiar roads have new exits, and we’re not sure which one to take. And we no longer have a communal spot to stop, connect and check in.

I am hoping this blog, Changing Lanes, can be a place where we can meet and share our stories. Where we can talk about our experiences, discuss how we’re navigating the unknowns, and ask each other for insight and support. Most of all, I hope this is a place for acceptance and laughter. Because, as we know from Tales From the Carpool, whatever the challenge, if you can laugh about it, it instantly feels a hundred times lighter.

So, if you’re up for it, hit those turn signals and get ready. We’re Changing Lanes.