Empty Nest Syndrome

It had been a week since the youngest Crosby child had moved out of the house and started college. Sidney and Brielle had helped their daughter, Ariella, move into an off-campus apartment with her best friend, then went back to their own home.

When they opened the door to the house, it felt eerily quiet, so Sidney turned on the living room television just to fill the house with a little background noise.

The evening, the same one where they had left Ariella to her own devices, Brielle and Sidney had a romantic candlelit dinner on the back deck, then went for a quick swim in the pool. Every single thing about their night had been romantic and without a single thought about anything related to or involving any child of theirs.

It had been easy for them in the beginning, but as the week had soon progressed on, both Sidney and Brielle realized exactly what was going on. They missed the crazy house and chaos it entailed when their children were home, but none of them were going to be coming back unless it was for a short visit.

"Sidney," Brielle called out when she entered the house after an afternoon spent shopping with her best friend, Veronique Fleury.

"In the living room," he called out to his wife.

Putting her bags down by the staircase so that she was able to bring them upstairs later on, Brielle went off in search of her husband.

Entering the living room, Brielle walked over to the couch and took a seat next to her husband.

Looking and seeing that she was visibly upset, Sidney pulled his wife's legs onto his lap and began to remove her shoes and socks. "Tell me what's bothering you," he spoke.

While her husband began to give her a much needed massage, Brielle collected her thoughts to best tell her husband what was on her mind. "I miss the kids," she started. "Vee and I saw a sign on the way home. There are kids looking for families to board them while they get an education here in America. Can we do something like that, Sid?" Brielle asked. "We have the means to do it and I'm not ready to travel the world yet like we planned. Ella only just started college and I want to be here all year for her if she needs us."

Taking a minute to think about it, Sidney felt like it had been a good idea. He knew that his wife was having a hard time with all of their children not living at home anymore, sometimes even displaying symptoms of empty nest syndrome. "I know that you got the number, so if this is something that you really want to do, let's do it," Sidney spoke.

Seeing his wife's eyes light up, Sidney was glad that he could do that for her in her time of need. She had done it for him when he had retired. So now, it was his turn to help her cope.

"I got their website," Brielle said excitedly. "I'll go grab the laptop and we can look up all of the information together."

A few weeks later, Sidney and Brielle opened the front door of their home and allowed the three French girls step inside first.

"Welcome to your American home," Brielle spoke in French. She knew that the girls were going to be working on their English while they were there, but this was also an opportunity for Brielle to brush up on her French as well.

The three girls stayed the entire year, even being surprised during the holidays when the Crosby's flew their parents and siblings to Pittsburgh as a Christmas present.

For four consecutive years, Sidney and Brielle were hosts for a handful of foreign exchange students. It helped Brielle who hadn't been ready for all of her children to have left the house. Although, after four years, the couple had decided on following through with their plan of travelling the world. Of course, they had gone on the occasional vacation, but one or all of their children had gone with them. Now, life was all about Sidney and Brielle and they were going to take full advantage of it.