<p>The best therapy for this affliction- see old friends! The older the better ( I don't mean age-wise, but friendship wise.) </p>
<p>My husband and I had dinner last night with two couples we've known since before our kids were born. Actually, we went to high school with one partner from each couple.
There's something really special about being able to share war stories with people you've known since childhood, who have also raised or are raising children as well. It's so much fun looking back at how we all struggled, and how far we've come.</p>
<p>We've been making an effort to see good friends every weekend, and I think it has really helped ward off the blues. I was definitely more saddened when my first born left. It was very hard. The house just seemed half-full. Yet my role hadn't changed, it just shrank.
With a completely empty nest, it seems easier (for me) to get on with projects of my own, as there is no one left to mother. I'm ready for this, actually. It feels good. It feels like a job well done. It's not that I don't miss them, I do. It just doesn't make me sad, it makes me feel proud.</p>
<p>Everyone is different, and I know that others might not relate to my experience at all, but I'm enjoying the new freedom that comes with this stage of life. My husband and I are feeling younger for it, actually. For the first time in years, we have plans for US and we don't have to consider them at all. Not that we minded when we did - but it's different, and not in a bad way.</p>
<p>I miss the presence of DD. The chemistry is just different at the dinner table. Found out yesterday that since the trains were free this weekend, she decided to go to NYC with a new friend. Got to Penn Station, took the wrong subway but eventually found their way to the Museum of Natural History, then back to P'ton in time for a progressive dinner with a Christian fellowship. She's doing great and I'm happy for her, but I still tear up from time to time. I'm from a small town, scares me to death to think about her just going to NYC on a whim, but proud that she has the gumption to do it. Glad I didn't find out til after the fact. Can't wait for parents weekend!</p>
<p>Missed her a lot this past weekend. Going to High Holiday services was not the same without her. She is usually hugged by at least twenty people as she enters the synagogue and has organized the teen service for the past two years. I also missed celebrating her 18th birthday with her, but my sister & her family are an hour away from campus and took her out to dinner. That was at least some consolation.</p>
<p>What's hardest on me is going to the HS football games and seeing my kids friends there who have come home for the weekend or a break. Both of my kids were involved in the Marching band so I've attended numerous football games and festivals to watch the band. </p>
<p>I'm actually having an easier time with my freshman son. He is having such a great experience at college compared to his last two years of high school (academically and socially) that it's hard to be too sad. Also, knowing that there is parents weekend within a month of drop off is nice and something I've been looking forward to. With my daughter, she left in August and we didn't see her until November.</p>
<p>audiophile, I feel your pain. My son was an anchor in the tenor section of the High Holiday choir, and it's just not the same without him (IMHO.) But I am comforted knowing he is in the same city with his sister & brother-in-law and can spend the holidays with them, and actually lead part of the service there--but then I get sad again wishing I could be <em>there</em> to hear him.</p>
<p>My two sons are 13 and 7, so the going-away-to-college angst is still a ways away for me. But there are so many small losses along the way. For example, my 7-year-old comes in early every morning and snuggles with me (13-year-old does not, of course!) This morning he went right downstairs. I called him back up, making sure that I got the snuggle time before it's gone forever.</p>
<p>Carolyn, I love the story about your daughter! She knows you awfully well. I hope she's still dancing in the streets at Beloit!</p>
<p>Cheers, Your husband is wonderful for filling what must be a big hole in the child's life (as well as a hole in his own). </p>
<p>Weenie, I laughed at the cell phone story. It could my my 13-year-old, but I'm clinging to the hope that he will somehow get his act together long before he goes to college.</p>
<p>Funny how the little things get you. I was cleaning up a closet (plenty of time to do that now) and came across S1's old taekwondo uniforms from when he was 8. They didn't get tossed because S3 used them as well. Now how can I get rid of those cute little pants and tunics? Were they ever that small?</p>