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Cluttered Empty Nest

I am almost tempted to forward this article on managing the empty nest clutter to K. She would endorse the views expressed in it whole heartedly. Her son is a successful real-estate agent who owns a home upon a fifteen acre piece of land. Her daughter likewise has a McMansion. Yet in K's home, there is no room for her car in her two car garage.

The basement is overrun over by her children's things that they have no plans of moving any time soon. Yet the nest is truly empty. She is old and alone, depending on the kindness of strangers and housemates to meet her emotional needs. I lived with her for a year as a paying guest and knew more about her life than the kids did. It was an arrangement that worked well for both of us. She mothered me as I came to roost for a while in her empty nest.

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