the.com/empty nest
the silence after eighteen years of noise, equal parts grief and giddy freedom.
name originBorrowed straight from birds abandoning their actual nests.
the reliefStudies link it to higher marital satisfaction, not despair.
boomerang riskMany nests refill as adult kids move back home.
the syndromeNot a clinical diagnosis, just a very real ache.
gender gapOften hits the parent who did more daily caregiving harder.