So sorry you're going through this. I guess it gives me a peek at what I will be going through in a couple of short years. I don't have a real partner to help me through the "empty nest" syndrome, either. Kids want to grow up and separate from their parents, especially from us mothers, (especially our boys) because they don't want to be thought of as "mam'a boys", and I can't really blame them. My stepbrother is working out in Texas right now and it's the first time he's ever been away from my stepmother (he's 26) and you'd think he died by the way she acts. Eventually he'll come around and start calling again. He's probably just establishing his independence.