Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines has emotionally revealed how she hopes her eldest son Drake will "fall back into his favorite chair" as he returns home for Christmas break, four months after leaving for college.
The 18-year-old left their homestead outside of Waco, Texas, for college back in August 2023, and writing her editor's letter for the Winter 2023 issue of Magnolia Journal, Joanna shared that as he returns home for Christmas break in a few weeks she is hopeful that he is able to fall back "into conversations we’d left open, into inside jokes he’d shared with his brothers, even falling back into his favorite chair".
The mom-of-five revealed that although life inside the Gaines home has not changed "all that drastically" since he left, she wanted to ensure that he felt he still had a place in the home, regardless of his departure.
"I want to hear that life pouring in and out of every room and conversation. And I want Drake to feel as if the impression he’s made in our home remained even when he didn’t," she poignantly added.
"I'm thinking about this now because I’ve learned that I want to be intentional about creating that space for my kids to connect. Our house is built in a way where everyone could go their separate ways if they don’t have a good reason not to," she concluded.
Joanna is known for her wise words, and for pouring her own love into finding the joy in the small things, and she went on to recall how the holidays have become"'sweeter with time," and reminded her readers that "this is the season of togetherness, after all".
Husband Chip graduated from Baylor University in Waco in 1998 with a degree in marketing and business administration and a few years later Joanna graduated in 2001 with a degree in communications. But they did not meet until the following year, with the pair celebrating their 20th anniversary this past month.
The two founded their company Magnolia Market in the same year as their wedding, and they later rose to prominence when their show Fixer Upper debuted on HGTV in 2013. They have since partnered with Discovery to create their own "lifestyle focused media network," the Magnolia Network, which is home to several personality-based programs that focus on home renovation, construction, design, and general lifestyle.
They are also parents Ella, 16, Duke, 15, Emmie, 13, and Crew, five – who often makes an appearance on his mom's social media channels, whether that's helping to tend to the garden, harvesting bees, or decorating.
Earlier in October, Joanna revealed that her little helper had been successful in getting their pumpkins in order to transform their home, as she shared a snap of Crew holding on to a basket full of little white pumpkins ready to be dispersed around the house.
"Proud of his little pumpkins," Joanna wrote in her caption, adding a white heart emoji to match the pumpkins.
Winter 2023 issue of Magnolia Journal hits newsstands on Friday, November 10.
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