My son is leaving home for university – and my severe denial has surprised me | Zoe Williams

My cherished first-born will soon be off to start a big new phase of his life, shiny saucepans in tow. ‘Empty nesting’ implies this is as nature intended, but it’s knocked me for six My son sent me a picture of his university accommodation, which looked perfectly nice, but there was something off about it. It was a little bit too tidy, of course, and had the slightly dystopian atmosphere of a…