Empty Nest?

My Nest - Bryan, Michelle, Natalie, Nathan, (me), & Steven (Adam has flown the coop)

Someone stopped me in the park yesterday and asked, “Can you believe graduation is almost here?”  Like me, she also has a senior at Gulfport High School and is making preparations for a child to embark on a college education.  Unlike me, she is close to experiencing Empty Nest Syndrome.

This will be my third child to “leave the nest,” and another will be heading out in a couple more years.  But ENS–if I may refer to it so flippantly (why not?)–won’t touch me until I’m close to sixty.  That’s a long time to wait for an adult escape to Europe or an elegant Alaskan cruise.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expressing any regrets that a child appeared in my more mature years.  I’m just wondering how difficult it’s going to be transforming a Disneyphile into a more sophisticated traveller…

Tags: Empty Nest, Gulfport High School