We were finally empty nesters. Then we got custody of our granddaughter and had to go back to work to raise her.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Michael Frost, 67, and his woman Connie, 63, who are raising their teenage granddaughter successful Georgia. They person imperishable custody of her and said they've prioritized providing her pinch a stable home and beardown education. This question and reply has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

MICHAEL: My woman and I person been raising Kinsley, our granddaughter, since she was 2 years old. Now, she's 13.

This is the second marriage for some my woman and me, and we joined successful 2012. I person 3 daughters, and she has four. I tease everybody that we unrecorded connected the "Estrogen Ranch."

My family owns a statement rental business, wherever you tin rent thing from a ample excavator to a lawnmower to tents and chairs. Two of my daughters are besides successful that business. My woman has agelong worked successful ministry, and she did arena readying for religion events and weddings.

I retired successful 2010. My family had a workplace successful Winston, which is astir an hr from Atlanta. My family bought the workplace successful 1987. My parents died successful 2009, and I bought the workplace from the property successful 2010. It's 57 acres, and we person cows, goats, and chickens, arsenic good arsenic sawmills and a pottery studio.

We person 20 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. It's a large family, and we effort to beryllium arsenic coming arsenic we tin successful their lives.

We were empty-nesters for almost 2 years.

MICHAEL: After we sewage married, our children were each retired of the house, and it was awesome being empty nesters. Kinsley's mother had moved astir a lot. Kinsley was successful immoderate situations that weren't great. Her mother, Connie's daughter, was besides successful and retired of the infirmary pinch liver illness and wouldn't spot Kinsley for a fewer months astatine a time.

After a bid of liver transplants, she improved and has her ain place. She had different kid whom she is raising.

We were granted impermanent custody of Kinsley, past won permanent custody. I knew that this was going to beryllium astatine slightest 18 years of taking attraction of a kid again. I wouldn't beryllium an quiet nester again until I was 72. I didn't want to do this, but location was cipher other consenting to do it. My woman believed this would beryllium only temporary.

This was each astir safety. My woman has truthful overmuch compassion and is consenting to do anything. I'm not saying I'm not that way, but I besides understand that group person responsibilities.

CONNIE: The accommodation was hard. She couldn't slumber successful the furniture by herself, truthful we had to tag-team until she was asleep. We made her a really cool furniture and playhouse. Mike has a awesome consciousness of humor, and he's been ace gracious, particularly fixed that he's not related to her.

MICHAEL: We expected location would beryllium differences betwixt raising our children and raising Kinsley. We're overmuch older now, truthful successful each her schoolhouse activities, it felt awkward that the parents of each the different kids were our children's age. But we now person a batch of friends that age. We besides sent Kinsley to a backstage schoolhouse because we didn't person assurance successful wherever her acquisition was headed.

Raising her has been complete bliss.

CONNIE: There were plentifulness of challenges, though. We person a batch of grandchildren, and erstwhile she was very small, she was ever sharing her toys and room pinch the different grandkids who came over. It was a situation to stock attention. It's a tug-of-war successful my bosom to make judge that erstwhile Mike's grandchildren from his previous marriage are here, they person clip pinch him without Kinsley. She feels for illustration she owns the place.

She decidedly runs america now. She's specified a awesome kid, and we're really blessed. She was ever very engaged and active, but she's ever been gracious pinch people. She tin get on pinch conscionable astir anybody. We're trying to thatch her to beryllium generous and kind.

We wanted her to person her ain space, and she needed to consciousness for illustration we were the nucleus. I effort to support her engaged because we don't want the different grandkids to beryllium suspicious of her. We yet established that we're not grandparenting her but are alternatively parenting her.

We person immoderate friends who are raising grandkids, but we person it a batch differently. We've had to tighten our belts a lot, particularly recently. Now that we're not retired successful the world arsenic much, we trust connected whatever's been group up for retirement. I show Kinsley, overmuch for illustration I told my daughters, that they person much than we ever had.

We don't person arsenic overmuch put distant arsenic I would for illustration to person had astatine this age, but we're OK.

MICHAEL: We aren't solely relying connected Social Security. We person immoderate rental properties that thief us.

I move each my hobbies into businesses, and we've tried to make this much of an progressive workplace than conscionable a hobby farm. There are days erstwhile I wonderment if we should effort to extremity because it costs much than what we make from it, but we request to adhd to our income. We besides jump successful to thief my daughters erstwhile they're overwhelmed. Connie precocious started volunteering to thief them retired pinch linens. We ever look for ways to summation our income and trim expenses.

CONNIE: We're not wealthy, though immoderate of our grandchildren deliberation that we are. Kinsley had to person room connected her ft past year, and it was very expensive. We were looking astatine dental work, and each these other expenses person piled up. It's difficult not to deliberation successful those terms. We person to scheme for each these things again, though we thought they were down us.

Raising her hasn't been excessively strenuous connected us.

MICHAEL: We are homeschooling her this twelvemonth successful hopes of walking much and having her pinch us. There is simply a batch of walking we would person liked to do that friends our property tin do.

My bosom goes retired to group who are successful their 70s, and each of a abrupt get a 2-year-old. We were fortunate to beryllium some younger and progressive erstwhile we sewage Kinsley. It does get taxing, though, erstwhile a batch of our grandkids travel and enactment pinch us.

My daughters for illustration to show maine that I let Kinsley to do things that they were ne'er allowed to do. I don't consciousness we're that acold disconnected from really we parented our girls, though. We're much strict than her peers' parents are.

Electronics weren't progressive erstwhile we raised our daughters. Kinsley conscionable sewage her first iPhone, but for 5 years, each her friends had them, and we resisted.

CONNIE: I effort to watch what she's doing, and possibly it's because we're older, but the electronics point is simply a full different world, and I don't deliberation it's healthy. I don't person a problem knee-jerking this tech retired of her hands. The kids are bombarded online. We don't attraction truthful overmuch astir what she thinks of america arsenic overmuch arsenic a batch of young parents do because we cognize that yet the kids are going to travel backmost and say, "Thank you for doing that."

We're pushing her to get a scholarship. We do tease her astir taking attraction of america erstwhile we're old. We don't judge she should carnivore that burden, but she jokes astir it and says, "You could adopt me." The statement among everyone successful our family is that she belongs here.