Empty Nest and the Holidays: What Homesickness Taught Me About Healing

A Fourth of July postcard from Rome.

Hey you, it's me.

Happy Fourth of July.

Today felt different. Not because I was in Rome. Rome was beautiful, just like it has been every day since we arrived.

It felt different because holidays have a way of reminding us where our hearts have been.

This morning I found myself wondering what everyone back home was doing. Was someone already standing over the grill? Were the neighbors setting up lawn chairs? Had the kids started asking when the fireworks would begin?

Funny how you can be standing in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and still find yourself missing the ordinary moments the most.

We decided to celebrate anyway. We found barbecue. We watched fireworks with the locals. We smiled. We laughed. For a few hours, Rome celebrated right alongside us.

It wasn't home. But it was beautiful in its own way.

Homesickness isn't always about the place. Sometimes it's about the people. Sometimes it's about traditions. Sometimes it's about realizing life keeps moving while you're away.

Maybe that's part of midlife. The backyard is a little quieter now. The kids have grown up. The holidays don't always look the way they used to.

Welcome to the empty nest.

If you're in this season too, I see you.

There is a quiet grief that comes with watching your children build lives of their own. It's the kind of grief that's wrapped in gratitude. You wanted them to grow. You prayed for their independence. Then one day you realize the house is quieter than you ever imagined.

Travel has shown me something I didn't expect. I can miss home deeply and still be fully present where I am. Those feelings don't compete. They can exist together.

Maybe that's what healing looks like. Not trying to choose between the life you had and the life you're living now. Holding both with open hands.

As I watched fireworks over Rome, I thought about all the Fourth of Julys we've celebrated in our backyard. Hot dogs on the grill. Kids laughing. Someone always forgetting the lighter. The smell of sunscreen and citronella candles.

At the time, those moments felt ordinary. Now I realize they were sacred.

Maybe that's the gift of growing older. We begin to recognize the holiness hidden inside ordinary days.

Home isn't just the house you leave behind. It's the love you carry with you. It's the memories that shaped you. It's the people who made you laugh until your stomach hurt. It's knowing your heart has room to love more than one place at the same time.

Today reminded me that home isn't where I'm standing. Home is where my heart has learned to love. And the beautiful thing about love is that it travels well.

I'm waiting on your note~

What tradition reminds you that you're home? Maybe today is your reminder to hold it a little longer, take the picture, make the memory, and tell the people you love that you love them.

Write Jenn a Note ↓

I love you.

Just stay sweet out there, until my next postcard.

Sharing love from Rome,

~ Jenn

P.S. If your family is all together today, soak it in. Take the picture. Stay a little longer. One day, today's ordinary moments will become tomorrow's favorite memories.

A Few Questions I Get Asked

The honest answers.

Why do holidays make homesickness feel stronger?

Because holidays are stitched to people and traditions, not just places. Watching fireworks over Rome, what I missed was not the fireworks. It was my own backyard and the ordinary moments I used to take for granted.

Can you feel grateful and homesick at the same time?

Absolutely, and I felt both at once this Fourth of July. Those feelings do not compete. You can love exactly where you are and still ache for the people who shaped you.

Does travel change during the empty nest years?

For me it has. With the backyard quieter and the kids grown, travel has become a way to rediscover who I am, and to notice how much my definition of home has shifted.

What has traveling taught you about healing?

That healing is not about leaving the past behind. It is holding both with open hands, cherishing the memories that brought me here while embracing the season I am living in now.

Write Jenn a Note Back

She reads every one.

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