“How do you feel about having an empty nest?” I’ve heard this question repeatedly in the past year. I objected every time, even though our younger son was about to leave for college. “The nest won’t be empty,” I insisted. “We’ll still be there.”
The word “empty” conveys only absence: empty pockets, empty wallet, empty-headed, running on empty. “Empty” is never a good thing. Interestingly, as it turns out, birds’ nests are actually empty after the baby birds learn to fly: Nests are temporary shelters only, and avian grownups also move on once the bird-rearing is done.
It’s time to jettison the “empty nest” terminology for something better. Personally, I like “next chapter.” This…
