Chicken Soup For The Soul: Empty Nesters

This terrific book is a must read for empty nesters or soon-to-be empty nesters.  It contains 101 stories written by parents who have been there already and share their stories with new empty nesters.  These heartfelt stories will inspire, support, and amuse parents grappling with their own bittersweet new freedom.  The book also includes stories from the kids themselves, providing the view from the other side.  Parents will nod their heads, cry a little, and laugh a lot as they recognize themselves and their almost grown-up children in these stories.

 
In this book, parents share stories of gazing at surprisingly clean bedrooms, starting new careers, rediscovering their spouses, and handling the continuing, and often humorous, needs of their children even while they are away at college or ensconced in their own apartments.  In one amusing story, a mother writes of dropping her last child off at college and then realizing that she and her husband can do anything they want.  They spend three days driving the six hours home.