After 33 years of raising kids together, this couple celebrated their newly empty nest with a fun-loving photo shoot.
Dalila and Juan Perez of Pharr, Texas, are parents to four children — sons John, Jacob and Jonas, and daughter Joy — who range in age from 22 to 33. Joy, the youngest of the bunch, “flew the coop” in August when she got married and moved to Corpus Christi with her husband.
To mark this milestone, the Perezes teamed up with photographer Melyssa Moreno of Melyssa Anne Photography to take some pictures outside of their house and around their neighborhood. And boy, did they have a blast.
The images went viral after the photographer posted them on social media and were later shared on the Love What Matters Facebook page.
All joking aside, Dalila told HuffPost that she and her husband feel a deep sense of pride and accomplishment now that their kids are grown up and living on their own.
“All our children are independent, educated, responsible and confident,” she said. “We see them as productive to society, all are public servants. Our eldest, John is a major in the Air Force, Jacob is a sergeant in the Dallas police department, Jonas is an assistant principal and Joy is a teacher.”
With no kids at home for the first time in 30-plus years, Dalila also said it’s finally time to “reclaim [their] house.”
“I am making a bedroom into a craft room, decluttering closets by returning our kids’ memorabilia to their homes, painting rooms to my liking, getting rid of extra furniture, you name it,” she said. “Our house is gonna represent us now. We love having the freedom to do this.”
Also on the agenda: Traveling around to visit their kids and grandchildren.
“Our dream is to RV our way to them and spoil our grandchildren, visit national sites and ride our Harley down the hills of Texas and meet other ‘empty nesters’ like us,” she said. “Altogether make new memories.”
Below, check out more images from the shoot.
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