Oh Cluck Me!

Oh Cluck Me!

Do you hear that clucking sound coming from Casa de Berk? If you listen carefully, you can hear it. “Cluck…cluck….oh cluck me.” That’s the sound of the empty nest as Zach has left the cozy comforts of suburban New Jersey for the motherland – Brooklyn.

Oh sure, the nest has been empty before…at least temporarily. There were those 7 week summer sessions, while the kids were away in the Berkoshires. There were the college years in the frozen tundra of Central New York, but those ended in the spring of 2014, when Zach returned to the nest for an extended stay in the cozy confine of his room, which by the way, he redecorated shortly after moving back home. Truth be told, with Allie all the way on the other side of the country (and I blame her mother for that decision), it was fun having Zach around. I’ve always liked the smell of a college apartment, circa 1981.

That all came to an an end last Tuesday, when my boy and his girl decided to shack up in Fort Greene, a loverly section of Brooklyn. Just so you know, I was born in Brooklyn, Linda was born in Brooklyn (same hospital) and lived there until she was 12. Pretty much both of our families lived in Brooklyn at one time or another. I read somewhere that 25% of all Americans can trace their roots back to Brooklyn. With Zach and my nephew Ben now living just a short walk from each other, I guess the family is returning to our roots.

This past Saturday I made my first trek to Zach’s new abode. Brought some of his stuff, brought the toolbox, but most importantly – brought Shay…his dog. On the drive home, I was thinking about the day my parents dropped me off at Syracuse for my freshmen year. I called home a couple of nights later, and asked my mom if my dad had to drive home because she was crying the whole time. Actually, it was my mom who did all the driving because my dad was so broken up. A couple of times over the past few daze, I knew just how he felt.

So now it’s back to Linda and me, and Cosmo of course. The next chapter of our lives has begun. I guess that’s just the way of things; the circle of life continues; the seasons go round and round and…oh screw that. As a big believer in the Peter Pan Principle, I’m too young for this empty nest crap. Somehow my kids grew up even though I didn’t. The biological clock says 56 but the spiritual clock says 36, when my kids were little, before sleep-away camp, before Syracuse, before they left the nest.

So the next time you drive past Casa de Berk, the sound you will hear will be my clucking…or crying. Tears of sadness that the nest is empty, but also tears of joy to know that Linda and I did our job, did it pretty good if I do say so myself. So proud of my kids, so happy for the lives they have, the paths they have chosen, so happy that they still have Casa de Berk to come home to. At least until I sell the place and move to Oregon, land of majestic mountains, world class golf courses and more breweries per capita than any other state in the union. A place where I can drown my sorrows in lots of beer.