Of Voids and Empty Nests

Which leads us to the question of human mothers facing a similar quandary. Chances are that lots of effort preceded the newly acquired status of “empty nester.” Perhaps, after she bids farewell to offspring as they leave to build their own nests, she enters a period I’ll call “straightening the nest.” Chances are that said offspring have left many possessions they promise to retrieve, supposedly, when they will have time to do some organizing — which translates to never, or when said parent announces that items left behind 30 or more years ago will be considered hefker and discarded or given to the appropriate gemach.

Human Mother may feel much nostalgia as she looks at the empty bedrooms, even as said offspring come back for Shabbos, eventually bringing along a new “child by marriage” to whom you can’t serve the frozen leftover kugel from the previous Yom Tov. This necessitates a major pre-Shabbos cooking marathon so everything is fresh and exciting.

The time to relish or dread the concept of the empty nest is often fairly short-lived.

Married offspring who return to visit need a very different form of parenting from those still in the nest! Mother must learn to hold her tongue. Inquiries about where the newly married couple plans to spend the upcoming holiday, summer, or the remainder of their married lives may not be appreciated, even though her interest (and any unsolicited advice) is motivated entirely for the benefit of the newly married children. The free time engendered by this new status of “empty nest” mustn’t be devoted, in even the remotest of ways, to making a plan for the new couple!