Joanna Gaines is bracing herself for letting go when Ella, her oldest daughter with husband Chip, heads off for college.
Their house will become a little emptier when Ella, 18, leaves, following in the footsteps of the couple’s oldest child, Drake, 20.
“Ella, our second kiddo, she’s graduating this year, so we’re going through that again with another kid leaving the nest and trying to stay emotionally stable,” Joanna Gaines told People.
“Do you think this is going to be harder (than with Drake)?” Chip Gaines, who joined her for the interview, asked her.
“Yes. I think there’s an emotional difference,” Joanna Gaines replied. “With Ella, we love to go to antiques shops, plant shops and go get coffee — that’s our rhythm. I kind of feel like I’m losing a friend in my everyday life.”
“It feels like what’s coming this summer will be a tidal wave of emotions, and I am not going to brace; I’m going to stand there and take it with him,” the Magnolia co-founder continued.
Chip and Joanna Gaines, who’ve been married for 22 years, are also parents to sons Duke, 17, and Crew, 7, as well as daughter Emmie, 15. While the parents of five understand the emotional toll losing a child to college can take, they are also looking forward to seeing Ella make her mark on the world.
“She’s excited about going somewhere and just being known for her,” Joanna Gaines said. “She’s like, ‘I don’t want anyone knowing that you’re … I just want to go and be myself.’”
“I’m excited for her to learn. She’s about to see some stuff,” she added. “She’s going to teach us stuff.”
Chip Gaines echoes the sentiment and said he is also looking forward to seeing Ella and the rest of their kids navigate through an ever-changing world.
“I feel like a grandpa learning,” he said. “I don’t feel perfectly equipped to manage some of these very interesting modern-day things that some of these kids are going through. So she’s going to get thrown in the deep end, man. I’m very excited about that.”
“And in four years, the youngest of our original four (Emmie) will have graduated. What are we going to do with this chaotic, crazy life that we’ve built for ourselves?” he added.
Joanna Gaines has also said Ella is very similar to her.
“Ella is like me,” she told People in 2019. “I think she’ll follow in my footsteps and have her hand in a lot of things. Right now she wants to cook, be a lead designer and have a donut truck.”
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