Our Why

Empty nest syndrome hits in many forms. It comes and goes in waves. One minute you’re sure you’ve

conquered it. The next, you’re drifting at sea without a paddle. What do we do now? How do we fill our

evenings and weekends…day after day, week after week, year after year? When our oldest went to

college we still had our son at home, with all the high school sports and proms and kids coming and

going to take our minds off of missing her. Two years later when he followed her to Penn State, we

geared up for empty nesting. We were going to thrive, attack this thing head-on, and win! We’ve always

been regulars at our gym, each with our own workouts, so we decided to take up something new for

both of us to do together. Yoga was the fix! Two or three classes together every week. Holding hands in

savasana. Feeling zen when we walked out and chatted about mindfulness over cappuccinos in our

favorite café. Things were going great! We were both busy with our careers. Visiting the kids in Happy

Valley once a month and reliving our college days.

Then they graduated. And that’s when we realized we had never been empty nesters at all. Not really.

But now…now they’re truly gone. Grown and flown. Starting their own careers. Getting their own places

and meeting their life partners. So much to celebrate! Job well done Mom and Dad! It was time to look

deep inside ourselves for real this time, and vinyasa wasn’t enough. So we took a giant leap (off a cliff

some might say!) and sold our house to free up some cash for flipping houses. Moved into a swanky

little luxury apartment and started searching for an investment property. Then the pandemic hit.

Our friends and family said, “I told you so!”. We were literally bouncing off the walls. Our health club was

closed. Our apartment gym and all amenities were closed. All the restaurants and bars on our little main

street were closed. We were both working from home in a one-bedroom apartment. Two upcoming

vacations were postponed. Our niece’s wedding was postponed – twice!! But we found the silver lining,

after all working from home has many benefits. Now, we had time to devote to house flipping. We

finally found the perfect property in a great neighborhood and the sellers accepted our offer. Luckily

contractors didn’t have much work in those first few months of the pandemic, so we were able to

completely renovate the house and get it back on the market in 30 days! The house sold quickly, with

multiple offers and escalations, and we were relieved to know that yes, we can do it! And wow, we still

miss the days when the kids were ours, but now we’re nurturing something new. Each house is like a

new baby, with unique characteristics and challenges, to be molded into a beautiful, confident,

independent being. To meet someone new and begin a new chapter with them, filled with joys and

sorrows and…life!