Figuring out what "Mid-life" is all about

I've had a couple of conversations with a friend that is close to my age.  We are both having some issues about the things going on in our lives at this time.  She looked up "Mid-life crisis" on Wikipedia and thought that maybe we were having one.  I just read Wikipedia's definition and eh, maybe we are experiencing somewhat of a mid-life crisis.  I think that mine has been coming on for a couple of years.  My dear mother's death has created a huge void in my life that nobody else can fill.  Loosing my father and brother was very difficult but I still had my mom.  I think that loosing our parents changes our entire make-up.  A part of our identity is gone.  Yes, we love our spouses and children more than I can describe here, but, we still have them.   It's a big adjustment and maybe those of us experiencing it can help each other by blogging.

Wikipedia's definition included loosing parents and having your children grow up and leave.  VOILA, that's two for two.   For the first time since I've been a mom, both of my children live on the other side of the country.  My daughter (my baby) just moved to Arizona.  So, now both of my children are there, together, which is great, but difficult for me.  This too, changes our identity.  After being "mom" for all of those years (and loving it, I might add) your role changes drastically.  My family was always very close and I always thought my children would be around.  A good part of getting older meant being with my grandchildren.

In January of this year I started a full-time job in a field completely unrelated to what I've been involved in for 30 something years.  Getting used to working for someone other than my husband and being there from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm has been interesting.  Again, never thought this is how things would be at this stage of my life.

So, things just haven't turned out like I would have liked.  Now it's up to me to get it together and figure out what is going to happen in my future.