I read Michael Gerson's touching commentary about his son moving away to college with mixed feelings ("Musings from an emptying nest," Aug. 20). Our first two children moved 1,500 miles away for college, and our third will be several hours away. You realize that distance is not measured so much by miles, but by independence.
A couple weeks ago, after our son had completed an internship in Pittsburgh, we had hoped he would fly home for a visit before he entered his senior year in college. This was not to be; he headed off to New York with friends. So instead of visiting with my son, I spent the weekend with a father I left years ago on my own grand adventures.
With the upcoming empty nest, maybe I can accomplish what I should, instead of living behind the immense wall of vicariousness that my children's accomplishments afforded me. Or maybe, just maybe, I'll figure out who that woman is who has shared my house with my children and me for the past 25 years.
