This year, Lovely Daughter moved into a new apartment, got her third promotion in as many years, and learned to cook things that didn’t involve burned butter. Darling Sons Aand B graduated from NYU with BFAs in dance, turned twenty-one, and became employed dancers (in that order).

Curmudgeonly Husband and I adjusted to the seasonal empty nest when the boys left for college, although “empty” is a relative term – LD’s room remains a not-so-sacred burial ground for clothes, mementos, and decorating projects past.

But now that all three children have embarked on their post-education adult lives, the emptiness is more permanent. Bittersweet, in that they’re amazing kids and we miss them. But CH says that he’s found their independence unexpectedly gratifying to him as a parent. “Hey, look at this! My kids can handle the world on their own!”

Well, more or less.

LD still can’t make a final menu decision when we eat out together without asking both of us what she should order.

DS B called me three days before he was due to leave the country to tell me he couldn’t find his passport.

DS A texted me to ask what pronoun to use for second-person point of view.

So we’re not completely obsolete yet. But I’m so proud of my kids for what they’ve accomplished. Can’t wait to see they’ll do next.