Cothrum: I’m not ready for empty nest

August 22, 2026 - 05:04

For Dallas Cothrum, the start of a new school year usually meant buying notebooks, checking bus schedules, and reminding kids to tie their shoes. This year is different. His youngest child just walked into her senior year of high school, and the reality of what comes next is hitting him harder than he expected.

"I am not ready for the empty nest," Cothrum admits with a mix of humor and raw honesty. He describes the past few weeks as a blur of college application forms, senior portraits, and the strange quiet that settles over the house after she leaves for school each morning. The milestones that once felt routine now carry a heavy weight. The last first day of school. The last homecoming. The last parent-teacher conference.

Cothrum says he finds himself lingering in doorways, watching his daughter pack her backpack, memorizing the way she tosses her hair or hums while she studies. He jokes that he has become the dad who volunteers for every small task, just to stay close to the action. He has also started saving things he used to throw away: ticket stubs, old homework, a worn-out soccer jersey.

The anxiety is real, too. He worries about whether she will find good friends, manage her own laundry, and remember to call home. But beneath the nerves, there is a deep sense of pride. He watches her handle her own schedule, argue her case for a later curfew, and plan for a future that does not revolve around his kitchen table.

Cothrum is not looking for sympathy. He knows this is the natural order of things. Still, he is savoring every ordinary moment. He plans to attend every football game, every choir concert, and every late-night diner run. He wants to be present for the small stuff, because he knows the big stuff is already slipping away.

As the year unfolds, he is learning to hold on loosely. He is not ready to let go, but he is showing up anyway, one last time, for every single thing that matters.