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Twenty-five years after becoming parents, the house is quiet. Our two boys technically still live here, but they are both with their girlfriends today.

It makes me wonder if we didn’t make a mistake by telling our younger son’s girlfriend that she couldn’t live here. If we had said yes, then our son would be here right now.

Technically, he would be in his room with his girlfriend, but he would come out to use the bathroom every once in a while. Then we could catch a glimpse of him.

I’m just not sure that I could allow a high school-aged girl to move in with my high school-aged son. It just goes against the grain for me. They are too young.

Our oldest son still lives at home, but recently he has become enamored with a girl he met online. The problem is that she lives two states away. So suddenly, he wants to move to a state where he’s never been and live with a girl he’s never met.

It’s not that we object to him moving out. We’ve been giving him strong hints in that direction for a couple of years. We don’t even object to him living with someone but shouldn’t you meet them before you make that decision?

He flew to her visit her Friday night. He’s never flown in a plane before, so he must really want this relationship. He even paid for it himself. It must be true love to get him off of his wallet.

His father and I have received a short text stating that he arrived safely, and that’s it. Obviously, staying in contact with his parents is not a top priority.

I’m actually more concerned for my husband than for myself. He and our oldest have been glued at the hip from the day we brought our son home. My son comes out of his room multiple times a day to ask where his father is.

The rest of the time, he is asking if we are “all right!” It’s as if he thinks we are going to drop dead at any time.

It doesn’t help that my husband has recently lost his job. However, it gives him more time to think about the changes that are coming. If he were working, he could put the thoughts to the back of his mind.

It looks like the empty nest is here. It’s what we were shooting for, isn’t it? You can’t keep your children by your side forever. They are supposed to grow up, move on, and have their own lives.

Nobody told us it would be this hard.

When they move their stuff out of the house, it will be real. Then we will stand at the door and smile and wave.

Then we’ll wait for the Oscar for our performance.