The Empty Nester Movement
Our society takes note of several highlights on the timeline of life. These pin-drops include engagements, weddings, births, anniversaries, milestone birthdays, etc. As recent Empty Nesters, we feel that the successful launching of offspring deserves equal recognition.
Timeline of Life and where the EMPTY NEST may fall.
My wife, Selene and I have two sons, now in their twenties. Once is still in college, the other is a sophomore in college. Along with our pooch, Olivetti, we are Empty Nesters. For the majority of the time, our home is relatively quiet. We now live in a mid-century modern house in a woodsy section of a New England seaside town, twenty miles south of Boston.
Selene Carlo-Eymer and Douglas Eymer
Selene and I met in the mid-eighties, built a design and marketing communications business (Eymer Design, Inc.), started our family in the mid-nineties and sold our business in 2000. In 2004, I left the company that had acquired us and launched a new virtual micro-agency, EYMER BRAND Laboratories + Think Tank.
Selene veered away from a professional graphic design career and accepted a job in the front office of our local public elementary school. She has since moved on and is now the upper school registrar, and handles the front lines within the college guidance office.
Since the two of us met while working together and have a strong passion for graphic design and marketing communications, during off-business hours, we collaborate on projects either for volunteer causes or just for fun.
In 2017, we sold our large waterfront home and "down-sized." I hate that term since to me it signifies the loss of ground. Since our kids were out of the house for significant amounts of time, and Selene and I barely used 33% of the space, we made a real estate change. Our new address is one floor with a large finished subterranean level that becomes the entertainment center for our boys and their friends when they come home to visit. EYMER BRAND Laboratories + Think Tank resides in a separate building nestled within our backyard patio.
The bluestone patio includes a "water feature," fire pit, and seating area. One evening while enjoying a glowing fire and listening to our electric-generated waterfall, we decided to name this area, The Empty Nester Lounge. Since this moment, we have strung patio lights, added lighted tiki statues and hired a team of goats for further landscaping purposes.
World Headquarters, EYMER BRAND Laboratories + Think Tank
EMPTY NESTER LOUNGE: Fire Pit and “Water Feature”
After posting fun photos of our "Empty Nester Lounge" on my personal Instagram and Facebook accounts, I soon began receiving comments from fellow Empty Nesters who shared details of their lounges, recent experiences, and in one case, inquired how they might start a southern chapter of the organization.
As they say in New England, that's when the light dawned on Marblehead. Selene and I realized that there were plenty of families that had undergone a similar transition and that Empty Nester could be more than a syndrome, it is a movement!
We would love to hear your stories and see your photos! Please feel free to share by commenting below or posting to our social media accounts.
Cheers– Doug & Selene.