I was surprised by how excited I got for my empty nest. Everything changed when my adult son moved back in.

The author started looking forward to her empty nest. Courtesy of Susan Teresa My looming empty nest filled me with sadness, so I made exciting plans. But as my twins headed off for college, my oldest moved back in. I'm learning midlife transitions rarely unfold the way we imagine. I hadn't known that choosing to be a parent was also saying yes to an inevitable series of heartbreaks. It starts small. In their early teen years, you realize they've started keeping secrets. The number of subje...