Empty Nest Fest

October 7, 2016

Here’s one of my favorite things lately…. this party Jim and I decided to throw for ourselves and everyone we knew who had just sent their last kiddo to college (or in our case, first and last) and suddenly found themselves rattling around in an empty nest.

Thought it was both an event worth grieving and an event worth celebrating.. with friends who were going through the same range of emotions.

But mostly it was supposed to be fun.

I made a sign…


… which I hung outside the front door.

Everybody came with their kid’s favorite dish to share.


There were about twenty of us. There was mac and cheese appetizers (adult style, from Trader Joe’s… our contribution), polenta lasagne, pasta in meat sauce, burritos from Guadalajara, shrimp soup, cheese bread (pao de queijo), bang bang cauliflower, cheesecake, poundcake with berries and chocolate sauce, a loaded green salad.. and a variety of chips, nuts, crackers.

And lots of wine (and dazzling tops).


The very best part was the sharing. We went around the room and said who our kid was, when they took off, where they went and what dish we brought in their honor. That expanded to what they were studying, how they were liking their dorms, what activities they’d already discovered, what kinds of challenges they’d had (with cramped space, laundry, mail service, class schedules, etc), and what kinds of challenges we were having.

Mostly, it was happy, proud, surprised… mostly elated at how the transitions had gone for all concerned… a testament to children well-raised. Of course!

Kids represented were Peter, Ray, Solly, Chase, Eli, Reed, Jacob, James, Alex, Jonathan, Chenoa, and Walter.  A few couldn’t make it (bummer!), and of course there were others we’d have wanted to include, but they still had kids at home. Didn’t qualify. Had to be ruthless.

It was a hoot.