Be happy that your children leave home

I was taken aback (to put it mildly) by the article on grown children leaving the parental home for hopefully exciting and fulfilling experiences (‘Terrible emptiness’: parents struggle with children leaving home, 8 October). Apparently 98% of such parents polled said they experienced “extreme grief” when their children left. While being prepared to appreciate that this particular experience must have its difficulties, I could not help but reflect on how these parents would describe what they think my husband and I might have felt when our 17-year-old elder son died, followed five years later by the death of his younger brother at the age of 20. Please, parents, value what you have and rejoice in your children’s going out into the world.
Liz Callister
Sheffield

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