Empty Nest

It’s official: the last of my siblings have moved out of the house, and my parents are empty-nesters for the first time in 26 years. As you would imagine, both are coping with this new change in their own ways; and I, in turn, am trying my best to navigate the new home-dynamic when I visit every week without going crazy.

Since my brother left got college, my mom spent a large portion of her time quietly sobbing, but she is pressing on bravely and is filling her time with a new devotion to her charities and a job as a preschool teacher. Meanwhile, my dad has been keeping busy through a position in local government and a time-consuming new hobby that entails the purchase and repair of old-fashioned typewriters off of E-bay.

As the proud owner of 10+, (now) working typewriters from the 1950’s, my dad says he holds a unique piece of the vintage typewriter market, and assures me that he will be able to sell them all for a very nice profit. However, I have yet to see his collection dissipate, so something tells me he might have misjudged the supply and demand for 1950's typewriters.

The silver lining in all of this is that I have a place of my own; because frankly, my parent’s have also started flirting a lot more, and it is REALLY awkward to be around.