I recently read a post about a mother whose daughter is talking about moving someplace far away from home. Her daughter says there’s nothing to do in their state and wants a taste of city life. The mom says she selfishly wants her children to live in the same state she does. She knows she’s just feeling some type of way about it now.

I understand how she feels. I have two children who are now grown adults. The oldest, my daughter, also speaks of leaving the city (state) she was born and raised in. She says she doesn’t like it here and has spoken of moving across the country. She has moved out of our family home into her own place, but she’s still close. My son has not spoken of moving out…yet.

Yes, it will hurt. I have done my best to let go of both of them and let them live their own lives. When it came time for both of them to go to college they chose to stay in the state. They wanted to go away, but not too far. When they left, I would go to their rooms and just sit. I knew then that this was the beginning of the test for my empty nest.

I can’t really blame them for wanting to get away. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. When it came time to go to college, I made it a point to get out of Pennsylvania. I did apply to one school in the state, but once I got accepted to my first choice it was over. I ended up at a college in Atlanta, about 600 miles away.

I really think my mom always figured I’d leave. Maybe she hoped I’d leave for something better. I left and then my sister went north to Boston for college. We both ended up staying in our respective cities to live and my mother built up her travel miles. I know I made the right decision for myself by moving away. It taught me independence and freedom.

I can speak on this now because my children are still close to me. If (or when) either of them decides to move hundreds of miles away I will travel to see them wherever they are, and they know they can always come home. That is what I was supposed to do; prepare them for this transition. I prepared a nest for them before they were born. Now, I’m preparing what I will do with that nest once they move out.

Have your children moved away? How did you handle it?