AARP Rewards Online Community Empty Nest Contest 2025

After early retirement and our kids flying the  coop,  hubby and I sold our mega house and built a small energy efficient, age in place,  forever home in Florida. It’s easy to maintain and yields low utility bills.

We now have money to travel, enjoy the Florida beaches, weight lift at the (Gym) with free memberships, garden ,read, hike, and cook plenty of healthy gourmet meals.  Our highlights during our empty nest phase have included: a Viking Rhine River Cruise, Budapest, Puerto Rico , Yoga retreat in Costa Rica and  a variety of beautiful US cities and states. We pray for health and well-being to continue to enjoy the benefits of our years of hard work during this empty nest phase!

“Empty Nester” turned into “Full Transition”! Transition to a new phase of life! Kids left Illinois and all 3 moved to Florida. I left Illinois and created a new life in Arkansas. New life phase of new goals…new job, new aspiration to become a duplicate bridge Life Master, new love of hiking mountain trails, new happiness! Love my new life. 

I I have been an empty nester for the past 3 years and I am not in a position to retire no time soon. I got laid off from my 18-year employer and used that severance to pursue a lifelong dream to direct a play in NY city. The play was a huge success and now I have to return to work since divorce made me do a reset and i bought a home 3 years. Had I not been an empty nester I would have worked feverishly to find a new job and not pursue my artistic passions.  See you on Broadway - Angela Cooper!!!!

Like all new phases of life, becoming an empty nester has brought change and uncertainty to our lives. And as with all new phases of life, we’ll grow and learn as we make our way through this one!

Becoming empty nesters has opened a new chapter for my wife and me — one filled with rediscovery, reconnection, and a refreshing sense of possibility. With our son and daughter now out of the house, weekends have transformed from chaotic schedules and carpools to intentional moments of joy and togetherness.

We’ve started reconnecting through shared hobbies we once put on hold. Saturday mornings are now for long bike rides on local nature trails, where we talk about everything and nothing — just like we did when we were dating. We’ve also taken up cooking together, experimenting with new recipes and turning our kitchen into a space of laughter and creativity. It’s amazing how chopping vegetables side by side can feel like a dance.

Downtime has become something we revel in, not rush through. We’ve created a cozy reading nook where we sip coffee and dive into books we’ve been meaning to read for years. The quiet is no longer empty — it’s peaceful.

As for reinventing our weekends, we’ve embraced spontaneity. Day trips to nearby towns, trying out quirky diners, or attending local art fairs have become our new adventures. We even started a “Sunday Surprise” tradition, where one of us plans a mystery outing for the other — from kayaking to salsa dancing lessons. It keeps things fresh and fun.

This phase of life isn’t about slowing down — it’s about shifting gears. We’re not just filling time; we’re filling it with meaning. And in doing so, we’re rediscovering each other in ways that feel both familiar and brand new.

I I have been an empty nester for over 20 years. I just retired after 42 years at the Postal Service.  I thought I would want to constantly travel, but since I worked in a big processing plant, I go to 3 retirement luncheons. Since, my kids do not want kids, I decided to pull a Benjamin Button and age in reverse, so I can be the grandchild. Since, I am an animal lover, I ask to go to the zoo and see the new babies like gorillas and orangutans.This year I went to a cowcuddle, where you groom and pet Scottish Highland cows, who are so gentle, I call them the Golden Retrievers of the cow world. An extra benefit is that the fee helps the farmers pay for hay to be shipped in during the winter. I go to the Disneyland parks and ride all the the fast and furious rides, that many of the younger people in the group won't.  I have been promised that I can go up in a Hot air balloon soon.  I go to our local Comic Con and enjoy celebrities and collect autographs.  I collect Funko Pops and get them signed.  I have met Stan Lee, Barbara Eden, Jeremy Renner, Dick Van Dyke, Buzz Aldrin, Susan Sarandon, Mel Gibson, Geena Davis, Michael J Fox and recently Oscar winner Ky Huy Kwan, the Indiana Jones kid, the Goonies kid and the husband in Everything, Everywhere All At Once and hundreds more. I get a lot of hugs from the celebs and Henry Winkler let me kiss him on the cheek. I go to a lot of concerts including ones that people wouldn't expect one my age to go to.I went to Post Malone/Jelly Roll's Stadium tour and just last night went to Benson Boone's arena tour. Next on the agenda is Maroon 5. The people I invite get monikers like the cool uncles, aunts, moms and grandmas. I have gone to comedy shows like Bill Maher, Sarah Silverstone, Ronnie Chieng, David Spade and soon I will be going to Adam Sandler (again) and Nate Bargatze.I did go on a Malt Shop Cruise and saw the Beach Boys, Priscilla Presley, Chubby Checker, Dean from Jan and Dean and the Nelson twins singing their Dad's songs plus 20 other groups and I got to feed iguanas at one of our destinations. I asked Mike Love of the Beach Boys, if they remember the amusement park mentioned in their song" Salt Lake City". Since, Salt Lake didn't have any other venues at the time they came 3 times a year for several years. Also, the hit song She'll have Fun, Fun, Fun 'til her Daddy takes the T-bird away,  originated in SLC when the station manager was taking the group to the airport and the manager's daughter was driving their T-bird . Getting backstories of our childhood from celebs is so fun!  Matthew Modine let me know he grew up close to my childhood neighborhood and told us his Dad ran swap meets at drive-ins during that time.  I go to a book club every month after re-connecting with a high school friend and we also have season tickets to the ballet.  I also have season tickets to the symphony, where they play the score to well known movies like Harry Potter. I also have season tickets to a Speakers Bureau, where I listen to some big name political people. Maybe, sometime I'll find time to travel! I want to go on a Safari, Australia/New Zealand-to see where Lord of the Rings was filmed , Europe and Scandinavia where all my relatives were from.  I have a close friend who does genealogy, so I'll get her to show me how to find my ancestors. When I have to actually settle down, I'll probably volunteer at an Animal Shelter. 

The first time I experienced a feeling of the empty nest was when our son Victor went to boarding school at the age of fourteen.  This helped set the stage even though we drove down to spend part of every weekend.  Then our daughter Tamika joined him after her 8th grade graduation.  Had we been in better financial shape we would have simply had them live and home and go to the nearby church school but this for us was the best solution.  We burned thousands of miles traveling back and forth every weekend until both graduated and moved on to college.  We also spend thousands of dollars affording this educational adventure.  After the high school experience college was a breeze .  The children were closer and we could breath because tuition was more affordable. Both of the children graduated from college and moved on to their professional lives.  

Love having an empty nest for a while now. Grand parents of 8. Some live right down the street, but the newest one lives 3 hours away. I miss not being able to see him. We still have to work 6 days a week so we can’t take the time off to go. Our car is wearing out and we’re barely make it each month for money. SS and income are not enough. Maybe I’ll win the lottery and won’t have to work. 

The echo was the first thing they noticed. For twenty-five years, the house had been filled with the low-thrumming beat of teenage life: refrigerator doors slamming, video game shouts, the distant, muffled sound of a washing machine running until 2 AM, and, most recently, the celebratory roar of LSU football broadcasts that rattled the windows.

Now, silence. A beautiful, profound silence.

The last of the moving boxes—packed mostly with well-worn textbooks and slightly-too-small purple and gold hoodies—were finally gone, driven off to two separate apartments in two different cities where Dean and Daniel had started their careers. Their boys were launched, and now, it was Janet and Ricky’s turn.

“Are we doing this right?” Janet asked one Tuesday evening, pausing the remote halfway between Survivor and S.V.U. She was curled on the couch, her feet tucked under Ricky’s leg.

Ricky, who was scrolling through vacation rentals on his iPad, didn't look up immediately. “Are we doing what right?”

“This,” she gestured vaguely at the living room, which was pristine—no abandoned socks, no stray chip bags, no debate over which console needed the HDMI port. “We haven’t eaten dinner before 8:30 PM since Daniel was a toddler. We're watching movies we choose. We’re traveling to places where there are no required university tours.”

Ricky finally put the iPad down, turning to meet her eyes. “I think we are, darling. I think we’re entering the victory lap.”

Their first real taste of freedom was a weekend trip to Gulfport, Mississippi. They booked it on a Thursday morning, leaving on Friday afternoon. No complex schedules to coordinate, no texts about forgotten assignments, just two mid-fifties professionals throwing clothes into a bag and driving south. They spent Saturday afternoon walking hand-in-hand along the coast, eating seafood that didn't involve a drive-thru, and marveling at the luxury of only paying for two airline tickets in the future.

But the real magic happened in the mundane. Now, date night wasn't an event—it was just Tuesday. They found a new tapas place downtown with dim lighting and fantastic sangria. They talked about work, retirement fantasies (which always involved a beach and better Wi-Fi), and, often, they’d spend twenty minutes laughing about a ridiculous anecdote from one of the boys’ childhoods—a memory that had been too recent and too painful to be funny when it actually happened.

At home, their new rhythm was simple and profound. After a long workday, they would trade their tailored clothes for comfortable sweats, cook a simple, delicious meal (usually something messy and flavorful that they knew the boys wouldn’t have touched), and retreat to the sanctuary of the living room.

The couch, once a battleground for territory and volume control, was now their fortress. They binged shows and films, sharing a massive bowl of popcorn and debating every plot twist. More often than not, Ricky would wake up to the sound of the end credits rolling, Janet asleep against his shoulder, her hand resting softly on his chest.

It wasn’t just silence in the house; it was space. Space to breathe, space to connect, and space to anticipate. As they watched their boys build independent lives, Ricky and Janet found themselves feeling lighter, filled with pride and a deep, quiet excitement for the future.

“You know,” Janet murmured one night, looking at a photo of the two boys shaking hands with their LSU dean. “The house is too quiet, sure. But just think, someday, we’ll need to make room again. For grandkids. Tiny little Tigers running around.”

Ricky smiled, pulling her closer. “Let them figure out the careers first. But yeah. We’ll be ready. We’ve got the quiet house, and we’ve got all the practice we need being supportive. For now, though,” he picked up the remote, “turn off the light, and let’s see if we can finish this movie before midnight.”

Our nest has been empty for over fifteen years and my husband and I have spent the past few years practicing for retirement. Daily we rise with the birds and my husband takes a two mile walk with our german shepherd  before he must go to work every day. I enjoy a more lesuirely morning and sip my hot coffee as I read my AARP and perhaps enjoy a quiz or two. I am partially retired and have the luxury of choosing my own hours teaching Senior exercise class, a job I adore. Once he returns I chirp my questions to him and he warbles his answers. "Did he see the owl today?" This is always a treat and more than once the owl has mistaken the dog ball for a rodent and attempted to to snatch it away. A hawk is a more common sighting, yet always a pleasure to see as it soars high above the earth. 

While my husband is showering it's my turn to take out the dog as she is never too tired for a walk. My path is a different one around a small pond which we travel daily. I will usually see ducks and geese and a chickadee or two. The heron may or may not make an appearance but is always such a rewarding sight.  

When the work day is done it's time for us to take our dog walk together. Often we are accompanied by a few gradchildren as they live just down the street. Sometimes we walk his route and other times mine but this is our time. After forty years together we do not hurry but rather meander along, pausing every so often as my husband utilizes the "Merlin" app which identifies birdsong. 

Evening birdsong is the sweetest ever and we relish this time.  

We will then enjoy our evening meal and with the dishwasher humming pleasantly we will settle into our nest and plan our imminent retirement. 

We will plot and scheme and discuss tiny details as we dream of the future. 

Again, we are still just practicing, but as they say, practice makes perfect!