June 20, 2004 11:58 AM

A dress rehearsal for Empty Nest Syndrome

Eric left yesterday to spend seven weeks at a debate camp at the University of Michigan. With Adam off at a language school in Oaxaca, Mexico, Susan and I have the place to ourselves. It's a strange feeling; nice on the one hand for the peace and quiet, but a bit lonely on the other. I've grown used to a certain noise and activity level around here, and now that has ground to a halt.

Though neither Adam or Eric are my biological children, they have become an integral part of my life over the past four years. In many ways, I do regard them as my children, though I understand that their primary loyalty is to their biological father. This is as it should be. I may not cry the tears that Susan does when they leave, but I miss them terribly nonetheless. Being a stepfather can be like that sometimes.

A little more than a year from now, Eric will be leaving to go to college, just as Adam will be finishing up at Southern Illinois University. When that happens, it's going to be an interesting time around here. I'll be OK, but I'm not always so sure about Susan. I think Empty Nest Syndrome is going to hit her hard, and as much as I want to be there for her, there is only so much I'm going to be able to do. As she told me yesterday at the airport while she dabbed away the tears: "You're not my baby!" Indeed; that would be a felony, wouldn't it?...

It's going to be an awfully quiet summer around these parts. Even after Adam comes back around the end of July, I'll be leaving to spend the entire month of August in Miami on an extended business trip. I won't be seeing Eric for the next 2 1/2 months, and I'll only see Adam for a few days before I have to leave. Sometimes it feels as if we've become less a family than a collection of ships that pass in the night.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on June 20, 2004 11:58 AM.

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