P.U.G, P.M.G and other newly discovered parental afflictions

Having previously announced a new diagnosis for parents: P.U.G (Parental University Grief - the unexpected sadness felt by parents at the leaving of their off-spring to Uni. added to the joy of the important milestone), I now have another: P.M.G - Parental Marriage Grief. Once again I was not prepared for this, although subsequent conversations reveal that many of my contemporaries have suffered from this hitherto un-named emotional affliction. P.M.G can occur shortly before or shortly after the wedding of a child. I discovered that the emotional impact of my son's wedding took me by surprise. The day of course was fantastic - the pleasure, joy and excitement - wonderful. But after 52 weeks of planning and endless conversations, then the power of the day, strange vacant aftermath plus the reality of him not coming home - all quite something. Fortunately my far-sighted wife had arranged a few days break last week for us to re-group and recover. Good idea.