The Empty Nest

It's quiet around here. Too quiet.

The kids returned to France last night. We drove them to the Cincinnati airport yesterday afternoon, and checked them in at the Delta/Air France unaccompanied children counter. Alison was allowed to accompany them through security and wait with them until they boarded the plane.

We were on the road back to Lexington before they left the ground. Ali talked to them this morning. They were with their dad on their way to spend the week with their grandmother. They will start the new school year soon.

They were with us for only a month. We did a lot while they were here, but it didn't seem like enough time.

And the house seems so empty now that they are gone.

Comments

[Teresa]

I have an ex-college student I can send you. She can eat your food, take possession of the TV remote, hog the phone line, hog the internet, keep her room in general disarray and not contribute anything whatsoever to your household... but she will fill up that empty space of yours. :-)

[lily]

:(

i have often tried to articulate this to people - because i fully and deeply mean it:

i believe the worst, most dreadful emotion to feel is "missing" someone. with anger/rage, you can let it out in a number of ways (positive and negative) and often good things can come of it. with grief, there are stages to go through. sadness...that can be overcome as well. but missing someone, to me feels like a very helpless emotion. (what do you do when you miss someone to relieve that emotion?) and one that is linked to so many others - sadness, emptiness, even happiness, yet it can be encompassing. i'm not sure what my point is or if i have articulated it well enough to explain what i mean...but i know how you feel.

alison and her offspring have added so much to your life. and that is a happy thing. :)

[Margaret]

You barely have time to adjust to being together, then you do, then they go back. It must be very hard on Alison.

[Anne]

I've been through a lot over the years, but the hardest thing is just after the parting, when i turn to the backseat and it's empty.

i know....