PERSPECTIVE
Fledglings
The nest is a mess. Bits of feather stick to twigs which she has bent into a perfect circle, round and deep. Twig upon twig, she labored, carefully carrying one at a time into the broken lamppost, pushing them through the opening made by the cracked glass. Now the nest is empty. Upstairs inside the house, another nest lies abandoned. Empty gum wrappers and crumpled sales receipts litter the floor. The box spring stands empty of its mattress. Cardboard boxes, rolls of packing tape lie on a desk, a chair, the floor. A phone, unplugged, lies on its side.

GENERATIONS
Excerpt from Letters to Sam: “Roadmaps”
In 2006, Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, Philadelphia psychotherapist, columnist, radio personality, and author, published Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons of Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life. Dr. Gottlieb and Sterling Publishing have graciously granted Empty Nest permission to reprint a chapter from the book. “Road Maps” offers another of Dr. Dan’s “pearls of wisdom”—how our personal “road map,” or philosophy of life, affects how we perceive ourselves and the world, and how this evolves over time, with our life experiences. Gottlieb (a quadriplegic due to a freak accident years ago) wrote the book for his autistic grandson—a beautiful empty-nesting gesture, passing wisdom from one generation to the next—but the lessons he imparts can benefit readers of all ages.

MONEY
Credit Cards for Young Adults: Blessing or Curse?
When I went off to college, I did so without ever having owned a credit card. I hadn’t been at school long, though, before I signed up for a Visa card, with my parents as co-signers. I found the deal at a “Student Advantage” fair in Boston. The plan was to use my new credit card for essentials—food, toiletries, and so on—and for the bill to arrive home, for my parents to pay. Only a few weeks later, I was offered a Citibank MasterCard that I could obtain on my own, without a co-signer. I eagerly applied! Shortly after that, I visited a student-focused information fair on campus, where Discover Card was offering free gym bags to anyone who applied for a credit card that day. What new college student can’t use an extra gym bag (even if she isn’t taking a phys ed course that semester)? So, within only two months of my arrival on campus, I already had three credit cards and $1,500 worth of credit. That was in 2000. And, since then, credit card companies have only increased the fervor with which they pursue college students. Consequently, many students have fallen victim to the siren call of the credit card.

SPORTS
Oh, Baby! It’s a Magical Night: Wednesday Night Racing
The invite screams, a blur of fonts and color, laid out like a ransom note. And, it doesn’t go unheeded. For we, the members of the Nockamixon Sail Club—a good many of us empty-nesters—Wednesday is the literal watershed of our week—an evening on the lake (think warm breeze and setting sun), with aprés sail par-tay. After that, Thursday and Friday just kinda rush on downhill toward the weekend—no problem. How can a sailor resist?