back in the u.s. of a.........

ok, so last night our eldest called....fresh off the plane from dublin....in charlotte, north caroline......to tell us that he is ok and oh-so-tired......and so glad to be coming home........a welcome 2 minute conversation.......and yet another reminder that this child is grown up to the point that he neither needed us to get to the airport, or to pick him up when the charlotte to lexington leg is over.......and we have no idea when we will actually see him....this week.....next week.......i understand completely that this is the way things are when one's children grow up and move away.......but i didn't know until now just how much i wouldn't like the reality of the emptying nest.......