The Empty Nest Feeling

                           

My daughter Chelsea is in Terminal Bac S, (a senior in high school.) I asked her how her day went and she said, "Since I was early for my Greek class, I leaned against the wall and started to re-read my physic lesson, when a bunch of girls came running down the hall, very late for their class next door. Laughing hysterically, in their hands they each had a cell phone, or a nail file, or a tube of lipstick, none of them had a back pack…one had a i-pod, they are fashion (the popular well-dressed crowd.)……."

Before Chelsea could finish telling me about those girls, I asked her if she was considered, "a nerd?"

"No duh Mom."

"Gee, Chelsea, I was voted, "Most Goofy," when I was in school. I didn’t carry a backpack, nor a tube of lipstick."

"What did you study?"

"Boys." I said while popping my bubble gum.

She rolled her eyes at me, I winked…and drove us home.

Different birds of a feather flock together….the eggs in my nest are cracking, I am missing her already.

photo: A pair of 19th century gilded birds, smoke screen holders.



Comments

51 responses to “The Empty Nest Feeling”

  1. Empty nest, well that tugs at my heart strings.
    You make me laugh sugar plum with your sweetness!
    In our home as 2 of our children live in Asia
    So far away doesn’t anybody stay in one place any more
    I would give so much to see your face at my door
    A song I love
    by Carole King
    Love you
    Jeanne

  2. Time flies – now I know where that saying comes from… Sweet sentiments Corey, she will always be near your heart – no matter how far away!

  3. Wonderful picture as always, how I envy your ability with a camera.
    Children, they grow so fast and I know we wouldn’t have it any other way but sometimes, just sometimes I wish it was a little slower.

  4. Empty nest is a long way of for us, but i know everyone says it all goes so quickly, cherish the time we have together. Lovely post, and beautiful photo. Thank you for visiting my blog!

  5. Lovely picture. Lovely exchange with your daughter. And tell me, with your studies…did you pass? Honours?

  6. I wish I was more astute when I was your daughter’s age. But my favorite subject was Boys 101.
    It’s funny because when I read your daughter saying “Duh”, I immediately thought of my own 5 year old using that word now. Only she uses it out of context like “I love my new necklace, duh”. I’m afraid of what I’m in for in 10 yrs.

  7. awww what a precious post!
    tell your chelsea that i admire her dedication & conscientiousness to her schoolwork>>>she will go far in life!
    i was a bookworm/nerd in high school…but i don’t think i turned out half bad at all,lol!
    & corey my dear, i believe i have something of yours on my blog, you lucky duck you!
    xo mary ann

  8. That is a fantastic link! What a great writer for one so young.

  9. Hang in there Chelsea! The best is yet to come:)
    Ummm I always secretly wanted to be the ‘studious’ one…but, I was always in search of ‘where the boys are’ Corey I think we would have been in trouble together! xo
    cute post btw! I have a son that is turning 18 in only a few more days:( he keeps giving me those winks with twinkling eyes, saying pretty soon mom, I can do as I please:) ๐Ÿ™

  10. I had to laugh a bit, because you sounded so much like my mother and me when I was in high school. I too was a shy studious one. I too had a mother who majored in “Boys 101”. I hope the empty nesting will end up being healing somehow for both of you, deepening the bond of “different birds of a feather flock together” even more : )

  11. This is a lovely little slice of your daily life. I love the links to the lipstick and cool kids, but must wonder why there are no links to Greek and physics!! Each bird has his or her own feathers, eh?

  12. I remember those days with my daughter.
    Chelsea sounds smart..and confident.
    She will go far..and the boys will follow!

  13. “…the eggs in my nest are cracking” what a perfect analogy!
    Although she lives very close, I often too miss my daughter, Sara. But then I know I’m needed when she phones (as she did last evening) with questions about how a bra should fit correctly (it was a demi-bra, so the “rules” were somewhat different…lol. Admittedly, I felt a bit remise in my duties as a mother for not covering this territory more thoroughly earlier, but still I felt as though I provided a service that only a mom could provide.

  14. Poignant conversation, sprinkled with humor…….delicious!

  15. awwwwww… i feel your pain

  16. Oh, the cracking eggs! But in my experience for everything you miss from the past tense, you marvel at something new for what it implies about their life separate from MOM and, thus, their future.
    I imagine, when your nest is *really* empty, you will commence re-feathering it in creative and love-filled ways we can only quiver to imagine. Meanwhile, the total transition takes a few years and that’s kindest, don’t you think, to our hearts and souls …

  17. it is coming so FAST. sigh.

  18. Chelsea is marching to beat of ~*her own drum*~ one day she will be a leader.Some birds must *follow* the rest and flock..your girl does NOT as my girl did not and what a gem
    she is today!Your Chelsea a gem as well. Lovely post as always!

  19. If you have a good relationship and I’m sure that is what you have, there is nothing to worry about! I think my daughter and I will always be close although when she lives not in my house anymore, as close as I am still with my mum.
    Love that bird pic!

  20. Well, from the photos I’ve seen of your raven haired beauty, she is a nerd-splendor-to-behold.
    Smart girl. Greek is so much more interesting than lipstick.

  21. Paris Parfait

    Lovely post, Corey. Your daughter is a true wonder and you’ll be even prouder of her, once you see what she can do when she leaves the nest (despite how hard that will be for you both). As for the Bac, I know that isn’t easy – my daughter did that at ASP.

  22. She must leave the nest in order to come back with her chicks for a visit ๐Ÿ™‚
    Just a visit.

  23. I was cleaning my kitchen counters and thinking about this post.
    Something struck me about it that got me laughing out loud.
    It was you asking Chelsea if she was considered a nerd….
    It struck my funny bone.

  24. You may not get the empty nest you envision….I thought that would happen too but … 2 of my children came back home with kids of their own…now its full nest syndrome.

  25. The tenderness of these words just broke my heart this morning. SUCH a precious moment with your daughter. I adore the metaphor you drew!!!

  26. Oh, you are such a sweet mother. I am sure on hearing your words Chelsea misses you too. Such tenderness (like the beautiful gilded birds in the photo).

  27. I love the humor and the love in this. That last sentence puts tears in my eyes for that time comes all too soon.

  28. Corey, I expect you will soon find you have an adult new best friend.
    As a mother of two adult daughters I assure you there can be a special relationship between mother’s and their adult daughters.
    You probably know all about that from the daughter’s point of view already.

  29. Aawww… well, if your daughter is cracking open her physics book while waiting for her Greek class to start, then she’s going to do just fine in Life. She’s a smart cookie, Corey!

  30. After a week in Iceland with the Frenchusband, I have evidence that you studied boys very seriously and graduated valedictorian. Pinch the FH’s cheeks for me (you can decide which pair) and tell him “bon jour”.
    Tongue in Cheek responds:
    LOL!! Oh cousin you crack me up!! I failed with a capital F with American boys, gee I didn’t even have a prom date to the Junior Prom…AND I was class president! I had to give a speech with a borrowed date at my side! Thank God FrenchHusband didn’t speak English!
    ps He thinks you are Pretty too in your GBJ!!

  31. I feel your pain Corey. Every once in a while Krista still calls me into her room, pats her bed and insists that I sit down. Even though she is now 22, I never pass on these opportunities. It always means that she has something to share of importance with me. These are always so precious.

  32. Corey, How lucky you are to have a good egg and not one of those vapid fashion forward popular ones! We nerds grow up to be fascinating women ๐Ÿ˜‰

  33. Ah yes. Last night the radio played a Christmas song…”and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again…” and I cried. The realization came. This will be the last Christmas vacation from school for my older son. There will be college, but I have a feeling it won’t be the same. I’m so happy about how wonderful he is and sad that it flew by so quickly all at the same time.
    I’m guessing you have similar feelings. ๐Ÿ™‚

  34. most goofy??? i don’t believe it…

  35. You will miss her, and you will be blessed with a new kind of reletionship.
    Our oldest son is studying in Australia (did he really have to go so FARE from me!!!!!) He came home Sunday night for a two month’s “summer break”. I took Monday off work just to sit and talk with him for hours. It was heaven.

  36. this is so natural..
    they will fly.. with our help..they have learned how to…. and will be such a happy event.. to share their new experiences..

  37. ahhhh ! this was such a cute post. I almost felt I was there listening and heard that gum crack. Oh I laughed.
    You Hot Tamale You !

  38. Oh it’s so hard when those baby birds leave the nest. My wings want to spread open and keep them safe within, but we can’t. They have to spread their wings out too.

  39. Thank you for the birds!
    And thank you for the glimpse into a heartwarming mother-daughter relationship.
    xox

  40. corey,
    It might seem one door is closing with chelsea moving on but the wonderful thing is you will now have a new best friend!Thats how britton and I are…Happy shes spreading her wings….

  41. Hmmmm, it would appear you and I studied the same thing!

  42. I love seeing my daughter spread her wings, even when it causes me some anxiety…lol It is beautiful to watch. Nice to catch up with you again…Nel

  43. I remember there were a lot of Girls who were studying Boys at that age.

  44. Nerds have more fun. I know I did. ๐Ÿ™‚

  45. Ohhh Dear ((((Corey))) tell sweet Chelsea
    NERDS ROCK! =)
    as her solo flight begins remember the heart ribbons that extend from yours to hers infinately*
    My dear patient smiled slowly as she tried to focus from half opened eyes as I shared the beautiful French ephemera with her.
    I was delighted to find her love, even more enamoured with the delicate old documents smiling away which he rarely does.
    One never knows what travels into the minds and hearts of each person lifting them above and away from whatevr hurts .
    XO
    MB

  46. It sounds like your daughter knows what is important. I predict that she will go far in life!

  47. Your daughter sounds wonderful Corey. I think she knows what is important in life. She reminds me of my son who rarely says anything unkind, but every now and then will refer to someone as being “too cool” and he doesn’t mean that in a good way.

  48. Lovely post about the impending transition. My eldest daughter just put a deposit down on her first apartment! We poured over IKEA and other shopping websites yesterday … it will be an easy Christmas to pick gifts for her this year! Lovely pic, as ever … both on the post and your link to Chelsea and your dad – gorgeous.
    Much peace, JP

  49. You are so wonderful with your children. People like myself who are ‘pre-parents’ have so much to learn from you dear Corey. x

  50. i began to miss mine
    the day of birth –
    each day a little
    something slips away
    and is replaced by
    something else:)

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