ΣΔΤ Blog

Empty Nesting and SDT

By SDT Headquarters,

By Rhesa Rubin, Beta Pi-University of Rochester and Lambda-UCLA

Amy Berk (left) and Rhesa meet in Nashville, Tennessee.

Have you found yourself in that stage of life when your kids have left home, you may be living in a new state or you find yourself “retired” from a prior career? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then read on!

After living in the San Francisco Bay Area for over twenty years and having a successful career as a family law litigator while raising five children with my professor husband, I suddenly found myself living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Well, five kids can keep one very busy especially if you move when the eldest is entering grade 11, triplets are starting high school, and the “baby” is starting grade 6. No problem- we can do this, and do it we did for seven years until the youngest became a college freshman last fall. Now, with no kids at home to take care of, and my mediation business is in its infancy, I am able to travel more with my husband.

Recently, my husband invited me to go to Nashville with him for a meeting. The only “problem” is that I enjoy exploring with a companion and I knew no one in Nashville. Sigma Delta Tau to the rescue!

I contacted the National Headquarters and asked if they had any college graduates from my year, or the year after, who lived in Nashville in their database. They gave me three names and lo and behold, I met Amy Berk.

Amy is a SDT sister who graduated from the University of Michigan and now lives in Nashville. And in “it’s a small world” department, her college roommate also has triplets (!) and Amy’s daughter lives in Durham, North Carolina. Well, Amy and I were a match made in heaven. We had a great lunch, shopped, went to a museum and ate our way thru Goo Goo Clusters at their candy shop in Nashville. We had a great time together and connected like long lost friends. I am so happy to have made Amy’s acquaintance and now plan to stay in touch and hope to see Amy when she visits her daughter.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog post on empty nesting. If you are feeling alone and out in the cold now that your kids have left home, SDT can help to connect you to other SDT sisters in your area. I believe there is something special that drew all of us together in the first place to be members of SDT, and now you can rekindle that special something and explore it again.

I will continue to reach out to former sisters from my Beta Pi and Lambda chapters when I travel to different cities (stay tuned!) and reach out to meet SDT sisters who live in my city.

Wherever you go, remember that there might be a SDT sister to connect with in your home state or farther afield.

Happy travels!



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  Comments: 4


  1. Rhesa-it was such a pleasure meeting you and spending this special day together in Nashville. Looking forward to reconnecting in NC!

  2. Carol Eubanks


    Rhesa
    I just moved to Chapel Hill and was looking for an alumni association!
    I’m happy to know there is another SDT here. We moved here 10 weeks ago and I’d love to meet you.


    • Carol, Pls send me your contact info and I would be happy to meet you for coffee after July 11th.
      Hope your transition here has gone well!


    • Hi Carol, Happy New Year! Let’s start the year off right and get together for coffee or lunch. Please email me back when you are available on the afternoon of 1/29-31. Look forward to meeting you!

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