You knew the moment would come. You just dropped your last child - ‘Daddy’s little’ girl’ - off at college. You’ve officially become an empty nester. Now you and Bill have your Upper Arlington home with 4 bedrooms, a fire pit, a hot tub and large yard all to yourselves.

You’re supposed to be jumping for joy.

You feel more like crying.

There will be no more cheer practices, band recitals, or field hockey games to attend. You’re faced with THE…

There are situations where I wish I could go back to the days when I was growing up. Visiting Grandma’s house for a fresh Italian meal is one of them. The smell of garlic bread with fresh parsley flakes or her famous pizza (with the thick crust, diced up tomatoes, and small bits of anchovies - yes, I know some of you are grossed out about that) baking in the oven. If I could only get another slice of it today.

However, there are other aspects…

If you think a shelf is just a shelf think about how frustrating it is when these things happen:

• Your towels and sweaters are a pain to put away because they hang over the edge of your too-shallow 12” deep closet shelving.

• Last year your 3-year-old son yanked the shelf right out of the wall. Fortunately, he didn’t get hurt – this time.

• You throw your high heels in a jumbled mess on the floors because there are “holes” in the cheap wire…

The holiday season (and especially Thanksgiving) is the best. We’ve been hosting Turkey-day 23 years and running with our “weird family.” The reason I say weird is all 20 of us get actually get along. No judgmental family members chiming (‘er butting) into your life telling you what you “should” do. Fantastic food including my sister in laws “Greek stuffing.” My sister Venera brings her famous cheesecake. Rose makes cranberry…

My life as a kid growing up was so like Kevin Arnold (he was the young boy in the TV show the Wonder Years about family life in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s). I lived in your typical Levittown-esque 1,500 square foot ranch home with 3 tiny bedrooms. I shared a 12’ x 12’ bedroom with my older much uglier (just kidding) brother Frank and the room was so tight our beds were smashed together. I used to wrestle my cousins on this bed…