In the Beginning

The first thing we did was to set sail for two weeks on a luxury cruise ship to take a sampling of the western Mediterranean countries. Our son was still at home, but had a job and, and being a responsible kid, we knew we could leave him and life would be good.
Hubby had never been to Europe and being cradled in the lap of luxury while floating on the blue sea was the perfect ticket. We were in Spain, Italy, France and Corsica. It was the kick off to the empty nest and an early celebration of our 20th anniversary. We savored every minute and took a thousand photos. Our son met us with a huge smile at the airport two weeks later, and the house was intact on our arrival home. It was discovered later that he had had several parties, of course, but in a month he would be off to college where the shenanigans can be mind boggling. We still stuck to the premise that our kid is responsible and smart. At least that's what I told him to be as I squeaked out a tear saying goodbye to him on the street corner of his dorm 400 miles from our empty nest.
Looking at his somewhat empty room was a little startling. He wouldn't be sitting at his desk glaring at the computer screen where I would come and give him a little squeeze around his shoulders and sit on his bed to chat for a few minutes. I wouldn't hear him bound through the house and asking what's for dinner, or trying to slide across the kitchen floor in his socks, or watch him throw himself onto the couch reaching for the clicker then surfing the channels in that maddening way. No music coming from his room, no clothes on the floor, no wet towels in the bathroom, no one to mock my technical skills. I wouldn't have to wait to hear him come into the house at 1 in the morning, relieved he made it home safely, which was a plus. I kept looking for those pluses.
Cooking for 2 was a plus.
Waking only myself in the morning for work and not having to nudge a sleeping body to get up and go to school
This is a short list of pluses. By the time a kid is 18, he has his own life anyway. Hubby and I did pretty much what we wanted by the time sonny boy went off to college. So, except for being in my birthday suit to make the coffee, what else had changed?

When did this all happen?

A little late on the uptake, but here we are, 2 years into the empty nest. When it first happened, a cousin called and said, "So, are you running around naked?" "It's too cold here for that," was my response, but it had happened many a time then, and now. Some folks, I suppose walk around naked with their kids home, no matter what the age. Hubby and I, no, never when our one and only son was around. He is also modest. When he was home for a month in January, we traveled to Hawaii for my 60th birthday. On a little trek to a well known coastal spot, a band of joyous, naked young men and women were playing bongos and enjoying the tide pools created by the red lava and blue ocean. Our son, many feet ahead of us on the trek from the highway to the ocean, saw all the nakedness from a distance, and stopped. He was not comfortable. So we stood at a distance and watched a whale go by, which was a very nice experience. Anyway, back to running around our empty nest naked. What can I say, we accepted the challenge with ease after a few moments of realizing our son had flown away.
About a month before he left for college, my hubby sat in front of the TV and mumbled, "It's like he's not even our son anymore." I knew exactly how he felt. We are the "older" parents, though it's in vogue now, 20 years ago, the trend was just inching forward. We had gotten married a month after I turned 39. My hubby really insisted we have a baby before I turned 40. It was very important to him. So, 10 months to the day of our wedding, out pops our baby boy. It was all baby all the time. For 18 years.
So after the first few weeks of missing him, we realized we were single and dating again. It was an excellent prospect.