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A little ditty ran in The Modesto Bee on Tuesday which said...

‘When the kids grow up and leave home, moms suffer from lingering depression, apathy and loss of identity, right? Not necessarily, according to an article by Naomi Barr in June's issue of O, the Oprah Magazine. Research now indicates that empty nest syndrome isn't typical, with a 2008 University of Missouri study finding that moms suffer no more than dads when the kids depart. When researchers at UC Berkeley studied 123 women in their 40s, 50s and 60s, they found that empty nesters actually experienced greater satisfaction with their partners than moms who had children at home.’

Glad to hear that someone has lumped those Dads in with Moms regarding the sadness experienced when children grow up and move out. I have noticed this many times with my hubby, he’s not outwardly verbal about it and he doesn’t really bring it up too often, but when an event happens with one of our kids, when a memory rises of the days when they were little or when one of them calls him because they need his advice… the tears are quick to well up and the silence of that empty nest tugs at his heart…and we, just as the article above says, find great satisfaction that we have each other and we're in this together.