Ree Drummond Drove 16 Hours to See Her Youngest Son Play Football Because She’s ‘Empty Nest Sad’
The ‘Pioneer Woman’ star will go the extra mile to support her kids
Ree Drummond Instagram
Ree Drummond and Todd DrummondRee Drummond would do anything for her kids – including a 16-hour road trip.
On Thursday, the Pioneer Woman star, 54, shared that she had visited her youngest son, Todd, 19, at the University of South Dakota to see him in a football game.
“In this photo from last Saturday, I am displaying the classic goofy, dreamy, I-get-to-see-my-kid-for-two-whole-hours empty nest sad-but-happy mom smile,” Ree writes in the caption of an Instagram post, with an added, “(I love you, Todd.❤️)”
In the photo, Ree’s decked out in the university’s colors, red and white, as she hugs her smiling son, who’s dressed head to toe in his football gear.
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“Let me know if you get it,” she asks her followers in the caption, referring to the mixed emotions in her smile. Followers flooded the comments with their own experiences having an empty nest.
“I totally get it!! Going through it now myself & it’s AWFUL!!” one follower writes. Another says, “My boys are [in] NC and Florida life without them is the worst ever…. They are my ❤️”
Ree responds to these commenters and others with sympathy, writing, “Hugs” or sharing heart emojis.
“I drive 45 minutes from my house to attend a school function for one of my grandchildren (sometimes lasting less than [an] hour) and then drive 45 minutes home! This picture is just that – it is what love looks like!” another follower comments.
In Ree’s response, she reveals that “we drove 8 hours in each direction.”
“It’s what we parents (and grandparents) do!” she added.
Ree, who is also mother to Alex, 26, Paige, 23, Bryce, 21, and Jamar, 21, with her husband Ladd, 54, moved Todd in to the University of South Dakota in January.
In a post shared on her Instagram Story, Drummond posed for a selfie in a car, as Todd could be seen behind her in a red University of South Dakota shirt.
"Made it to SD yesterday," she wrote with the snapshot. "GO YOTES! (and go Todd)."
Drummond recalled on her blog how her son committed to the university just one day after a campus visit.
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She said he immediately took a liking to the coaching staff and athletic facilities, and on the drive home he "couldn't stop raving about the school and the football program." Todd then had a signing ceremony on Dec. 21 while the family was on vacation in Vail.
Later in the day, she posted a few more snaps of their goodbye, along with the message, "Said bye to our baby today. We couldn't love him more.”
For her final send off, she writes,“Go have an awesome experience and keep bein' yourself, son. Go Yotes!"
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